Provo father and 12-year-old son killed in collision with semi just over Arizona border

MOHAVE COUNTY, Arizona — A Utah father and has 12-year-old son were killed when their car struck the back of a semi trailer with heading south on Interstate 15 in northern Arizona, not far from St. George, Utah.

According to Bart Graves with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, on Wednesday at approximately 9:45 p.m., the unidentified father at the wheel of a Mustang didn’t see the semi and hit the trailer from behind.

Witnesses told investigators the trailer didn’t have its rear lights activated when it pulled onto the roadway from Arizona’s Black Rock Road exit on I-15. Witnesses also reported multiple vehicles swerved to avoid hitting the trailer before the sedan struck the commercial vehicle from behind near mile post 28.

The father was 55 years old, according to Graves.

St. George News reported the Provo travelers in the Mustage included an 11-year-old girl who was in the back seat of the car had to be extricated from the crash and was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life threatening. The pre-teen boy was trapped in the front seat but was still breathing in the wreckage of the Mustang when emergency crews arrived.

Rescuers worked for 30 minutes to cut the car away and free the occupants but as the boy was removed from the vehicle his breathing stopped. Efforts to resuscitate the child continued for more than 40 minutes but were not successful. The driver of the semi was not injured and has not been identified.