One person was killed and eight people were injured Thursday morning after a snow plow lost control on Interstate 70 and crashed through the median into oncoming traffic, hitting two vehicles and a van carrying a youth hockey team.
Troopers responded to the crash at 8:53 a.m. on eastbound I-70 near milemarker 218, which is close to Herman Gulch and about 13 miles east of Silverthorne.
The preliminary investigation shows that a Colorado Department of Transportation snow plow lost control while driving on westbound I-70 and crashed through the median, broke through the cable rail and continued into eastbound lanes, state patrol officials said.
The snow plow hit a Toyota Tacoma that was driving eastbound, and the impact sent the Tacoma across the median into westbound traffic, where it hit a westbound BMW.
The plow then hit a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van carrying a girl’s hockey team from Santa Clarita, California, sending the van down an embankment. The van driver died at the scene. Three adult and four juvenile van passengers were taken to Denver Health by ambulance, hospital officials said in a statement.
A fifth juvenile passenger was airlifted to a separate trauma center with critical injuries, according to the state patrol. No other injuries were reported.
All four children taken to Denver Health were discharged or in the process of being discharged as of Thursday evening, hospital officials said. Two adults are in serious condition and one is in fair condition. An update on the child who was airlifted was not available Thursday evening.
The Clear Creek County Coroner’s Office will identify the driver at a later date.
In a statement on Facebook, the hockey club confirmed a girl’s hockey team traveling to Denver for the Western Girls Hockey League weekend was involved in the crash.
“Words cannot express the heartbreak we are experiencing,” club president Prescott Littlefield said. “Please hold these families in your prayers.”
Eastbound I-70 was closed for seven hours because of the crash, reopening just before 4 p.m., state patrol officials said on social media.
The crash is being investigated by the agency’s vehicular crimes unit. Colorado Department of Transportation officials referred questions about the crash back to the state patrol.
