A 27-year-old man from Mexico City died and five other people were injured Tuesday afternoon in a three-vehicle, chain-reaction crash on U.S. Highway 2 about four miles west of Cashmere, Washington. Alejo A. Garcia was a passenger in a Toyota Sienna that had stopped to make a left turn off the highway when it was rear-ended by a Jeep Grand Cherokee, according to authorities. The impact pushed the Jeep into the oncoming lanes, where it collided with a pickup truck. Garcia was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene, while the two drivers and three other passengers were taken to a hospital in Wenatchee.
The Wenatchee World reported that Washington State Patrol troopers say intoxicants were not a factor in the crash, though possible charges against the driver of the Jeep, a 74-year-old Wenatchee man, remain under investigation. The highway was closed for several hours as crews cleared the scene near milepost 107. Authorities noted that Garcia and two other passengers in the Sienna were not wearing seat belts at the time of impact. The crash remains under active investigation by the Washington State Patrol.
