5 in pickup killed after collision with tractor-trailer in Wyoming; truck driver unhurt

5 in pickup killed in Wyo. tractor-trailer crash

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Highway Patrol says all five occupants of a pickup truck were killed when the driver lost control on Interstate 80 and collided head-on with a tractor-trailer.

The patrol announced news of the Thursday wreck on Monday after notifying the victims’ families.

Investigators say 43-year-old Maria D. Ruiz-Flores was driving west when she lost control in icy conditions, crossed the grass median and hit the eastbound truck about 40 miles east of Rawlins. Ruiz-Flores and 17-year-old Jose A. Hernandez-Ruiz, both of Gladstone, Ore., were killed.

Sgt. Stephen Townsend says three youths in the pickup also died. Authorities have yet to identify them.

The truck driver was not injured.