Crash along US 93 leaves 2 dead and 5 in hospital

Two people died and five others, including an Arizona Department of Public Safety Trooper, were hospitalized after a multiple-vehicle crash Friday near Wickenburg.

A trooper responded to a report of a vehicle broken down on U.S. 93 north of Wickenburg about 8:30 p.m. The trooper talked to occupants who said they were low on gas and were afraid they couldn’t make it to Wickenburg.

The trooper said they had enough fuel and followed them to Wickenburg to make sure they made it safely, a statement from the department said.

While the trooper and vehicle drove south on U.S. 93, a passenger car driving in the opposite direction was speeding and passing vehicles in a nopass zone, officials said.

The car hit the trooper’s car and the other vehicle, causing the car to turn over and the trooper’s vehicle to catch fire.

People in another vehicle involved in the incident pulled the trooper out of his car since he was trapped.

Officials said they were unsure what the fourth vehicle’s involvement was in the crash.

The trooper’s car was fully engulfed in flames after he was pulled out, the department said.

One person in the vehicle speeding and passing cars died at the scene, and two others in the same vehicle were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

A person in the vehicle driving to Wickenburg also died at the scene and two others in the same car were also hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

The trooper was also transported to the hospital with serious but non-lifethreatening injuries. The people in the fourth car involved were treated at the scene.

The department said it’s not clear if impairment was a factor in the crash.