3 People Injured In Dramatic Crash On Bonneville Salt Flats
May 27, 2020, 1:30 PM | Updated: 7:31 pm
WENDOVER, Utah – Multiple people were injured during a dramatic crash on the Bonneville Salt Flats overnight, authorities said.
The crash happened Tuesday at approximately 10:10 p.m. approximately 10 miles from Wendover.
Kenneth Quirk, director of public safety for the City of Wendover, said responding crews found a 2008 Acura that had crashed into an earth berm. Only one of the three occupants of the vehicle was able to communicate with authorities at the scene.
The Acura was traveling at an estimated 100 miles per hour when it crashed, Quirk said. The Wendover Fire Department had to extricate the driver, who was pinned behind the wheel.
Two 18-year-old males and one 17-year-old male, all Salt Lake City residents, were transported by helicopter to the University of Utah Medical Center. Their current conditions are unknown.
Witness Semisi Latu recorded video of the aftermath.
My thoughts and prayers to these 3 teenage boys. Luckily we were about 150 yards away from the accident. I saw a car at high speed driving across the flats then I told my kids that I hope they see the wall and they drove right in to it. So I got in my car and rushed over and my stomach dropped when I got to the scene. I tried to get the driver out but he was pinned to the steering wheel and the engine was in his lap. So i went to the passenger side and was able to pull him out. The 3rd passenger was able to get out the back window. The driver was pinned but I could see he was still heavily breathing and bleeding but he was stuck. The Wendover Rescue team showed up about half hour later and had to chainsaw the door and engine off the driver. Long story short I believe they will all be okay. They were all breathing but I know the driver is in really serious condition. Three life flights arrived to take all 3 boys to the hospital.The officer said luckily we were still in the area cause if not these boys probably would not have been found till the next day. It was in the middle of nowhere. 🙏 🙏
Posted by Semisi Latu on Wednesday, May 27, 2020
“The passenger was pinned, but I could pull him out pretty easily,” Latu said.
Officers told him it was lucky he was in the area and saw the crash, he said. If he hadn’t been there, the three occupants may not have been discovered until later Wednesday morning.
Latu said he saw the car driving at high speeds across the flats before it hit the berm.
“My thoughts and prayers to these 3 teenage boys,” Latu wrote in a Facebook post. “Luckily we were about 150 yards away from the accident. I saw a car at high speed driving across the flats then I told my kids that I hope they see the wall and they drove right into it. So I got in my car and rushed over and my stomach dropped when I got to the scene.”
He said he attempted to pull the driver out, but he was “pinned to the steering wheel and the engine was in his lap,” according to the post.
