Semi-truck driver arrested for deadly crash, allegedly sandwiched van.

Driver of Semi-Truck Arrested in Fatal Crash

A horrific accident on Interstate 5 in western Oregon has left seven people dead and four injured. The driver of a semi-truck that slammed into a passenger van has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, DUI, and other charges.

The Tragic Details

Eleven people were in the van when it was struck, and six people died at the scene. One more person died after being airlifted to a hospital, and four were injured. The driver of the semi-truck, Lincoln Clayton Smith, 52, of North Highlands, California, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, assault, driving under the influence of intoxicants, and reckless driving.

Smith is being held in Marion County Jail, and it is unclear if he has an attorney. The crash involved two semi-trucks and the van and occurred on Thursday afternoon near Albany, in an agricultural area in the Willamette Valley.

The northbound lanes of I-5 were closed for hours as experts investigated, but the routes reopened Thursday night, state transportation officials said. Bodies were seen covered in plastic in a nearby field after the crash, the Albany Democrat-Herald reported.

Witness Accounts

Witness Adrian Gonzalez told the Salem Statesman Journal the van was mangled by the force of the impact. “Judging by the damage, it looked like the van was sandwiched,” Gonzalez said. “It got hit very hard.”

Deadliest Crashes in Oregon

The crash is one of the deadliest in Oregon in recent years. A head-on collision on a remote road in Harney County in eastern Oregon in August 2018 killed a family of seven, including five young children. Eight people died overall. In December 2012, nine people died after a tour bus careened on an icy Interstate 84 and crashed through a guardrail, plunging several hundred feet down a steep embankment.

The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.