Sunday night collision closes Seward Highway, sends 3 to hospital

The vehicle was the subject of “multiple” REDDI reports

The Seward Highway, near Grayling Lake toward Seward, was closed for around six hours Sunday night and three men were hospitalized after a vehicle pursued by Alaska State Troopers collided with oncoming traffic.

According to a dispatch from troopers, they were notified Sunday around 5 p.m. that Seward police were pursuing a vehicle in Seward. That vehicle, the dispatch says, was the subject of “multiple” REDDI reports. Those reports said the vehicle was “driving erratically, had nearly struck pedestrians, and was driving in the wrong lane of travel.”

By the time troopers arrived, the vehicle, identified as a blue 2006 Toyota Corolla, had eluded Seward police. Another REDDI report placed the vehicle traveling north on the Seward Highway, near Mile 4 close to Exit Glacier. A trooper patrol vehicle attempted to stop the Corolla near Mile 10, but the vehicle “failed to stop,” according to the dispatch.

The dispatch says the trooper pursued the vehicle, but only “moments later,” near Mile 13, the Corolla collided with another vehicle traveling in the opposite direction, south toward Seward.

The occupants of the Corolla, two adult men, were ejected from the vehicle. The dispatch says they were both medevaced to an Anchorage hospital with “serious injuries.” The sole occupant of the vehicle that had been traveling south was taken to a Seward hospital in “stable condition.”

The scene of the collision was closed for “about six hours,” per the dispatch. During that time, troopers documented the scene and cleared the damaged vehicles. The names of the two occupants of the Corolla have not been released, and troopers say the investigation is ongoing.

Troopers are asking any who had to take evasive actions to avoid the blue 2006 Toyota Corolla on the Seward Highway between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday, or those with photo or video of the vehicle driving recklessly to call 907-262-4453.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.