CEDAR CITY — One man was killed and another man critically injured in a rollover north of Cedar City on Sunday morning.
Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Adam Gibbs said the first call reporting the incident came in around 7 a.m. involving a single vehicle that had rolled off Interstate 15 at approximately mile marker 69.
Gibbs said it appears that the vehicle, a silver Toyota pickup, had been heading south on I-15 when it went off the roadway to the left, then overcorrected and went off the right, rolling multiple times. The truck ended up going through a wire fence and coming to rest some distance east of the Old Highway 91 frontage road that connects Enoch and Summit.
The passenger, described as a man in his early 40s, died at the scene. The driver, who was in his mid-60s and was reported to be the passenger’s father, was extricated from the vehicle and then transported by ground ambulance to Cedar City Hospital, after which he was flown to St. George Regional Hospital, Gibbs said.
Even though the driver’s injuries were described as critical, he is expected to survive, Gibbs said, adding that both men had been wearing their seat belts.
Although the cause of the crash remains under investigation, Gibbs said preliminary indications are the driver may have been drowsy.
“Fatigue is being investigated as a factor,” Gibbs said, adding that investigators are still not certain when the wreck actually happened.
“We actually think the crash may have happened a lot earlier and they weren’t found until this morning,” Gibbs said.
In addition to Utah Highway Patrol troopers, personnel from Iron County Sheriff’s Office, Cedar City Fire Department and Gold Cross Ambulance also responded. Traffic impact was minimal while the scene was cleared, as the wreckage was some distance from either road.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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