Two people were killed Sunday morning near Paragonah when the right rear tire of the van they were passengers in failed, causing the driver to lose control and the vehicle to crash into the median and roll twice.
The two victims, 14-year-old Zahara Ismael and 74-year-old Hamdiyan Salman, both of San Diego, were riding in the second row of the van when the accident occurred at approximately 7:25 a.m. Neither was wearing a seat belt, and both were ejected from the vehicle.
Ismael was pronounced dead on the scene. Salman was transported to a hospital to meet a medical helicopter but died from her injuries before it arrived.
The van’s driver and front-seat passenger were both wearing seat belts and sustained injuries that weren’t life-threatening, and were transported to area hospitals for treatment.
Utah Highway Patrol reported Sunday morning that part of Interstate 15 was shut down due to the crash near milepost 82 — just north of Parowan in Iron County. UHP initially said that I-15 had been closed in both directions as a result of the accident. About a half-hour later, it reported the southbound lane had reopened, while northbound traffic was being diverted off of the on-ramp and right back onto I-15. The detour lasted approximately 2 1/2 hours.
Utah’s Department of Public Safety said that an on-scene inspection was performed on the vehicle, a 2003 Honda Odyssey, after the crash, and it determined that the vehicle “had multiple equipment violations and was not safe to drive on the roadway.”
