Two Ukiah residents were killed in a traffic collision on Highway 20 near Redwood Valley Friday, the California Highway Patrol reported.
According to the CHP, the collision occurred around 8:50 a.m. July 21 when a 70-year-old Ukiah woman driving a red, 2015 Nissan Altima heading south on Road 144 merged onto Hwy. 20 into the path of a white Nissan Titan pickup truck headed east.
The driver of the pickup truck, a 25-year-old Lakeport man, tried to avoid a collision but the front of his truck hit the left side of the sedan. The driver of the sedan then lost control of the vehicle and it continued into the eastbound lane of Hwy. 20 where it was struck by a commercial semi-truck towing a trailer.
The sedan was hit again on its right side and landed about 10 feet down the embankment.
The passenger, a 77-year-old Ukiah man, sustained fatal injuries and was declared deceased on scene. The driver of the sedan was extricated from the vehicle by numerous firefighters who had responded to the scene.
Brendan Turner, assistant chief of the Redwood Valley-Calpella Fire Department, said members of his department, as well as personnel from Ukiah Valley Fire Authority and Cal Fire, worked to free the driver from the vehicle using the Jaws of Life. The woman was airlifted from the scene but later died from her injuries.
The names of the deceased are being withheld until their families can be notified.
The driver of the pick-up truck sustained moderate injuries and was transported to Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital via ground ambulance.
VeriHealth and MedStar ambulances responded and two air ambulances were dispatched, although one was later canceled.
