An ambulance carrying five people crashed into a tractor-trailer truck Tuesday 18 miles west of Sterling, killing two women on board and injuring three others, Logan County officials said.
The ambulance was carrying a pregnant woman, a critical-care patient from Ogallala, Neb., to University Hospital in Denver, said David Patterson, division general manager for Rural/Metro Ambulance.
One of the women killed was believed to be a paramedic and the other, the mother of the patient, deputy coroner Bill Van Pelt said.
The two women killed were identified by the Colorado State Patrol as Karen Woods, 43, of Elizabeth, and Vicky Thomas, age and address unknown.
The driver of the ambulance, Chris Larusso, 22, of Westminster, and Dan Beza, 31, of Centennial, a passenger in the ambulance, were taken to Sterling Regional Medical Center, the State Patrol said, where they were treated and released.
Kelsey Schlichenmayer of Burlington, a patient in the ambulance, also was taken to the Sterling hospital, then airlifted to Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, where she was listed in critical condition Tuesday night.
The State Patrol closed westbound Interstate 76 where the crash occurred at the Merino exit.
“The ambulance is completely demolished,” Van Pelt said, looking at the crash scene.
“The whole front end is torn away, the compartment in back is intact, but everything is scattered and thrown all around,” he said. “It’s a terrible sight.”
The driver of the semi, Plamen Zelyamov of Chicago, wasn’t injured, authorities said.
The crash was reported about 4 p.m., on I-76 between Sterling and Brush.
State Patrol Capt. Doug Copley said preliminary findings indicate the ambulance hit the left rear of the semi while attempting to pass. Prior to the crash, both vehicles were traveling on the right lane.
The speed of the crash had not been determined.
One of the women killed was thrown from the vehicle.
This was the second fatal crash this month involving an ambulance.
On May 1, Boulder High student Hannah Nicole Bauer Boemker, 16, was killed when her car struck an ambulance in Boulder as she left her part-time job at a senior-living complex.
