3 die in head-on collision on I-80

A pickup that troopers say was driving the wrong way down a dark stretch of I-80 slammed head-on into a car, killing three people.

Two others suffered serious injuries in the Saturday morning crash, which happened about 11 miles west of Knolls, in Tooele County.

The Utah Highway Patrol said 911 dispatchers first received a call at 3:37 a.m. about a white pickup going the wrong way on I-80.

"It was going towards Wendover in the lanes coming toward Salt Lake," UHP trooper Randy Akers said Saturday.

Four minutes later, another 911 call reported the crash. The UHP

said a 1994 Chevrolet pickup slammed into a 1995 Pontiac Bonneville.

Four people were in the Pontiac. The UHP said the driver, 43-year-old Vakataha Mila of West Valley City, was killed. Two passengers in the back seat, Valentine Kioa, 50, and Sosaio Fehoko, 69, both of Salt Lake City, also died on impact.

A 30-year-old woman in the front seat of the Pontiac suffered serious injuries and was taken to LDS Hospital, troopers said.

The driver of the pickup, 22-year-old Jeffrey M. Harrison of Park City, was flown by medical helicopter to University Hospital in critical condition, the UHP said.

On Saturday, investigators were on I-80 trying to find any areas where the pickup may have crossed the median on the Bonneville Salt Flats. However, Akers said they did not see any crossover. The closest point the vehicle could have accessed I-80 eastbound without crossing medians is at the Knolls interchange.

"The physical evidence we have is that he was there (in the wrong lane) for a while," Akers said. "They're still trying to determine why he was there."

I-80 eastbound was shut down for several hours while troopers investigated the crash.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com