3 are killed in accidents on Utah highways

Four separate accidents in 13 hours in Utah resulted in three deaths and eight people injured, including four children and an infant.

Three of those accidents happened Monday night all within just over an hour of each other.

At least two of the accidents were believed to be at least partially weather-related.

Killed were:

Danielle Sweat, 17.

Tammy G. Hunsaker, 46, Tremonton.

Jacob Ruggles, 9, Virgin.

The most recent accident occured Tuesday morning when a van carrying triplets rolled on I-15 in southern Utah.

Ruggles and his brother and sister, Josh and Bailee, were riding in their family's van, traveling from Virgin to St. George.

Just after 8 a.m. the van was merging from U-9 onto I-15 when the triplets' father, Jack Ruggles, 51, who was driving, got a call on his cell phone.

As he reached down to get his phone he drove off to the right of the road, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.

He tried to get back on the road but overcorrected, causing the van to roll several times, UHP spokesman Wade Breur said.

All of the children were ejected from the van. Jacob Ruggles was pronounced dead at the scene. The others were transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George with undisclosed injuries.

That accident followed a string of unrelated crashes in northern Utah Monday night.The first incident happened just before 7 p.m. on U-38 near Deweyville, Box Elder County.

Hunsaker was driving a semi hauling a 53-foot trailer. While the driver was going down a steep embankment, she apparently went into the shoulder, Breur said.

She tried to get the truck back onto the main road, but the trailer caught the edge of the embankment and went over, pulling the rest of the truck with it. The semi and the trailer rolled, Breur said.

Hunsaker, who was wearing a seat belt, suffered massive head trauma and was taken to a local hospital where she was later pronounced dead.

The cause of the accident was under investigation Tuesday. Troopers said the road was clear and dry at the time.

Just a half-hour later, two cars collided head-on near 4100 South and 7400 West.