Tractor-trailer crashes into Bear River

HONEYVILLE, Box Elder County — A semitrailer crashed into a river at the bottom of a bridge early Friday, injuring the driver and sending a mixture of diesel and detergent into the water.

About 5:40 a.m., a semi heading south on I-15 drifted into the median near Honeyville, Box Elder County, said Utah Highway Patrol trooper Cameron Roden.

"The driver possibly fell asleep at the wheel," he said.

The large rig, which was hauling household cleaning items and detergents, crashed through the guard rail and into the median. At one point, the freeway becomes a bridge and the drop in the median is about 50 yards into the Bear River, Roden said.

The truck took the steep drive down and ended up in the water, splitting the front of the trailer open and dumping boxes of detergent into the river.

Both the driver and the passenger of the semi were men in their 50s. The driver was flown by medical helicopter to University Hospital in critical but non life-threatening condition. The passenger was taken to Bear River Valley Hospital with minor injuries.

The men were from a trucking company in Canada, Roden said.

The freeway was restricted for several hours in that area as crews pulled the semi out of the water and cleaned up the small amount of diesel fuel and detergent that leaked into it.

The investigation into the crash continued Friday.

— Pat Reavy