DPS NEWS

One person injured after rock falls from mountainside causing a five car crash

At about 6:00 AM, a car was northbound on SR-189 near milepost 23. There was a large rock in the roadway that came off the mountainside. The car attempted to stop but hit the rock. The car behind that stopped, but then several others crashed into the rear of those vehicles. It ended up being 5 cars total. There was another crash a couple miles away that was a single vehicle crash into a guardrail. Out of the crashes, one person was transported to the hospital with minor injuries. The road was closed in both directions for about 2 hours until the wreckers could clear the vehicles. The road where the crash occurred was very narrow with a rock cliff wall on one side and guardrail on the other. It was on a blind curve due to the rock wall, and it was slick at the time. The road was opened about 8 am.