Collision on Interstate 5 kills 3 people
The accident occurred about 4 p.m. at Bow Hill Road, north of Burlington. A red Geo Prizm crossed the median, colliding with a northbound Chrysler PT Cruiser, the State Patrol reported.
The driver of the Prism, 18-year-old Amanda Kinley of Bellingham, and the driver of the Cruiser Martha Ann McIntyre, 47, of Deming, were both pronounced dead at the scene. Courtney M. Smith, 21, of Bellevue, who was a passenger in the Prism, died after being flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Another passenger in the Prism, Jenna R. Lankamer, 18, of Abbotsford, British Columbia, was also airlifted to Harborview and is listed in serious condition as of Friday afternoon.
According to the Washington State Patrol, none of the young people in the Prism were wearing their seatbelts although McIntyre was wearing her restraint.The flight to the hospital was for one patient was delayed when an engine light came on in one of the Airlift Northwest helicopters and the pilot made a required precautionary landing at Skagit Bay View Airfield. A third helicopter was sent from Boeing Field in Seattle to pick up the stranded patient
A spokeswoman from Airlift Northwest said that patient privacy laws prevented her from revealing which injured person was in the helicopter that was required to land.
Northbound freeway lanes were closed for hours, with traffic detoured around the site.
The state Department of Transportation plans to install a cable barrier at the site the first week in April.
Some 70 miles and $9 million worth of new barrier are being built statewide, funded by last year's gas-tax increase. Cable barriers have been controversial in Marysville because several vehicles have broken through them.
Seattle Times staff reporter Mike Lindblom contributed to this report.