5 dead in Wyoming highway crashes caused by wrong-way driver

SINCLAIR, Wyo. (AP) — A series of crashes caused by a wrong-way driver on Interstate 80 killed five people and seriously injured others in south-central Wyoming.

The driver has been arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired, according to a Wyoming Highway Patrol statement.

Highway Patrol troopers got word of the Dodge Ram headed east in the westbound lanes minutes before the pickup truck collided with a passenger car and commercial truck near Sinclair on Sunday night. The driver of another commercial truck then swerved onto the median to avoid the wreck, according to the statement Monday.

The second commercial truck crossed the highway and hit an eastbound Ford F-150 pickup truck head on, engulfing the two trucks in flames.

The second crash killed all five people inside the Ford pickup. Others were taken to hospitals with critical injuries.

The patrol statement did not say how many others were injured or identify anyone involved, including the alleged wrong-way driver.

Sinclair is about 140 miles (225 kilometers) west of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and 300 miles (480 kilometers) east of Salt Lake City.