A car became pinned underneath a semitruck on northbound I-15 near the Virgin River in St. George on Monday evening, shutting down lanes and snarling traffic as crews worked a heavy rescue to free those trapped inside. The crash happened as a passenger vehicle changed lanes amid merging traffic and struck the semi-trailer, according to Lt. Zach Randall.
Fox13now.com reported that northbound I-15 shut down Monday evening at the Virgin River after the vehicle became pinned beneath the semi. Per Lt. Zach Randall, as relayed by KUTV, three to four occupants were pinned under the semitruck, prompting a heavy rescue response. The Utah Highway Patrol reported that the injuries were not life-threatening, according to that same KUTV account.
Conflicting Details on Occupants and Injuries
Accounts of exactly how many people were trapped and how badly they were hurt have varied throughout the evening. Fox13now.com reported that multiple people were pinned inside the vehicle and were awaiting extraction, while ABC4 said the Utah Highway Patrol had since confirmed that only one person was in the vehicle and pinned. The outlets also diverged on injury severity — fox13now.com described the injuries as minor, whereas ABC4 reported that the occupant was in serious condition, though their injuries were not life-threatening. ABC4's report also noted that the driver was changing lanes with other merging traffic when the vehicle struck the semi-trailer.
Several northbound lanes were shut down at milepost 5 near the Virgin River exit, per the same ABC4 account. Traffic was diverted at exit 4 to Brigham Road in St. George, according to KSL. ABC4 reported that officials had estimated the road would fully reopen around 9:59 p.m., though that estimate was subject to change.
Second I-15 Crash Hit the Area Days Earlier
This is the second serious crash to disrupt northbound I-15 traffic in southern Utah within a week. On Oct. 15, three people were injured in a rear-end collision on northbound I-15 near Cedar City, according to stgeorgeutah.com. That crash, which happened around 6:30 p.m. near mile marker 68, involved a white Dodge Ram pickup truck and a semitractor hauling two belly dump trailers, the outlet reported. The pickup's driver was unable to reduce speed in time and struck the rear trailer of the semi.
In that earlier incident, the pickup driver and one passenger sustained minor to moderate injuries, while a 13-year-old passenger suffered injuries described as severe, per the same report. The teenager was initially taken to Cedar City Hospital before being flown by helicopter to St. George Regional Hospital. Monday's crash near the Virgin River remains under investigation, and officials have not released further details on what led to the lane change that triggered the collision.
