6 Dead in Head-On Crash in Utah; Officials Say DUI Suspected

Officials said that alcohol and prescription drugs may have factored into a crash that left six people dead in Utah on Saturday, Oct. 20.

A dump truck crossed a highway median near Heber, Utah, slamming into a pickup truck, killing all six men inside the pickup, officials told The Associated Press. Another two people were injured inside a Jeep when a driver tried to avoid the crash, losing control. The two people inside the Jeep suffered non-life-threatening injuries after the vehicle rolled over.

Now, the Utah Highway Patrol said officials found prescription pills and open alcohol containers in the dump truck. The dump truck driver was treated for minor injuries and was arrested on suspicion of six counts of automobile homicide, AP reported.

The dump truck driver was identified as Jamie Don McKenzie, 41, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, citing jail records. He was driving the truck to deliver dirt for a firm in Park City, Utah.

Six died in a crash in Heber, Utah on Oct. 20. The two people inside this Jeep are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Screenshot/Fox News

Efrain Cardenas was identified as the pickup truck driver, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

“In my 13-year career,” police Sgt. Lawrence Hopper said, “this is probably the worst crash I’ve ever seen.”

“It was one of the most horrific accidents I have ever seen,” he added to AP.

Troopers said that before the accident, they had received several calls of the dump truck swerving and cutting off vehicles, the paper reported.

Hopper told the Tribune that alcohol could be smelled on the man’s breath. McKenzie told officers that he drank alcohol on the night before the crash, but he said that he hadn’t been drinking on the day of the crash.