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| Five killed in head-on collision on Route 160 |
| By BEN ROGERS and LISA KIM BACH Five people were killed Sunday - including a girl who officials said was about 5 years old - and five others were injured after an afternoon head-on collision between two vehicles on state Route 160 just west of Hualapai Way. Three of those killed and two injured were returning to Pahrump from Las Vegas, where they had seen an afternoon movie, the Nevada Highway Patrol said. Agency spokesman Alan Davidson said a ticket to a 1 p.m. showing of "Dinosaur" was found in the pocket of the girl who was killed. The stretch of road between Las Vegas and Pahrump is notorious for deadly accidents, with more than 60 fatalities recorded since 1996. Recent widening of portions of the road to four lanes has cut down on the frequency of accidents, but Sunday's collision, about five miles west of Interstate 15, occurred on a stretch that is two lanes. The collision occurred about 3:50 p.m. when a car driven toward Pahrump by a 40-year-old man drifted into oncoming traffic, Davidson said. A witness had described the car as having crossed the center line for several seconds before slamming directly into a sport utility vehicle headed toward Las Vegas, he said. Both vehicles were traveling about 60 mph, Davidson said. Identities were not available for any of the victims. Relatives of victims gathered late in the day at University Medical Center, where most the injured were taken by helicopter, and were meeting with a grief counselor. "This is always the worst for me," hospital social worker Kristie Bailey said of situations involving trauma to children. Bailey called in volunteers from the Trauma Intervention Program to assist with the families of the accident victims. Those volunteers stayed with the individuals as long as they were needed, Bailey said, offering comfort and acting as go-betweens with medical staff and investigators. "They're there for emotional first aid," said Marian Thomas, crisis team manager for the trauma program. "It's a terrible situation, but we're trying to make it a little bit easier." The program is sponsored by all emergency responders in Clark County, except for North Las Vegas. Bailey was grateful for the volunteer assistance - as soon as news of the accident was televised, UMC's switchboard was inundated with calls from people concerned that those involved were friends or family. "It's been hectic," Bailey said. Five people were in each vehicle. The 35-year-old female driver of the sport utility vehicle and her front seat passenger, a 65- year-old woman, were killed on impact. The man driving the car and the young girl were also immediately killed. A woman described as about 35 years old, who also was in the car, died at the hospital about 8:30 p.m., Davidson said. Of the survivors, three were listed in critical condition, one in serious condition and the other in fair condition late Sunday. The survivors included a teen-age boy who was in the car; a woman, age unknown, who was in the sport utility vehicle; and two girls, ages 6 and 3, who were in the sport utility vehicle. The younger girl was buckled into a child safety seat and is believed by police to have been the only occupant of either vehicle wearing a safety restraint, Davidson said. Another teen-age boy in the car was taken to University Medical Center by ambulance and was listed in stable condition. The front ends of both vehicles were demolished by the impact, scattering debris in all directions on the desert roadway. Rescue personnel had to remove the top of the sport utility vehicle to extricate victims. "It's tragic ... they were just driving down the road. It's just tragic that people are put in these situations," Davidson said. "This road is infamous for accidents like this," he said. "At 65 miles per hour, you've got no time to react. This road is windy, dark, has little lighting and no physical barrier between the lanes. We're going to see more of this happening until they widen this road." Davidson said officials from Las Vegas police, the Highway Patrol and the Clark County fire department were on the scene within eight to 12 minutes of the accident. Traffic was closed down well into Sunday evening. The last fatality on state Route 160 occurred May 1, when a 21- year-old Pahrump man was killed in a rollover. In December, a 29- year-old Las Vegas man was killed while attempting to swerve out of the way of a car trying to make a U-turn. The Nevada Department of Transportation has made several improvements to state Route 160 over the years. In the fall, a $12.5 million construction project was completed, widening a 17-mile stretch of the road by constructing a new and separate two-lane highway next to the existing highway. In 1992, the department spent $5.1 million to widen shoulders and install medians at various sections of the road from Decatur Boulevard to four miles east of Mountain Springs Summit. It also spent more than $14 million on other improvements in both Clark and Nye counties. |
| ***Printed on June 26, 2000 |
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