Van driver killed trying to pass on Hwy 12 near Pasco. Six others hospitalized
The driver of a van believed to be carrying field workers died in a head-on crash east of Pasco while trying to pass another vehicle on Monday night.
The three-car crash also hurt four passengers in the van, as well as the driver of the oncoming pickup truck and a toddler.
The Washington State Patrol said the van driver was eastbound on Highway 12 in the 2008 Chevrolet passenger van about 18 miles east of Pasco when they collided head-on with a westbound pickup truck.
The crash happened shortly before 9 p.m. near Oasis Road in Walla Walla County.
The driver’s identity had yet to be released Tuesday morning.
Three passengers in the van were taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland: Gabriel Ernandea, 23, of Venezuela, Jose Pabon Pabon, 21, hometown unknown, and Bryan Porras Mondada, 19, of Columbia.
A fourth passenger, Andres Porras Quiroga, 18, of Columbia, was taken to Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla.
The 2016 Toyota Tacoma was driven by Esmeralda Diaz-Ramos, 22, of Walla Walla. She and her toddler passenger, Salvador Suarez, 2, were injured and taken to Kadlec.
The driver of the third vehicle that struck the pickup was not injured.
