Wyoming Highway Tunnel Crash Caused by Pickup Truck Losing Control, NTSB Says
GREEN RIVER, Wyo. (AP) — A deadly chain-reaction crash and subsequent fire in a Wyoming highway tunnel that claimed three lives began with a pickup truck losing control on a slick roadway, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported Wednesday. The incident occurred on February 14, 2025, along Interstate 80, a primary east-west route, near Green River, Wyoming.
According to the NTSB’s preliminary report, the highway was wet, possibly with ice or slush, close to the tunnel exit. A westbound Toyota pickup exited the tunnel, spun out of control, and hit a guardrail. The vehicle came to rest blocking the right lane and part of the left lane, the NTSB said.
Other vehicles attempting to avoid the initial collision caused further incidents. A tractor-trailer jackknifed, blocking both lanes approximately 200 feet before the tunnel exit. A Dodge pickup then collided with the jackknifed tractor-trailer, which was then hit by a second tractor-trailer. That second tractor-trailer, entangled with the Dodge, hit the jackknifed truck again before striking the Toyota and another truck outside the tunnel.
Multiple other vehicles subsequently collided inside the tunnel resulting in a post-crash fire, the report stated. Two occupants of the Dodge pickup died as a result of the collisions. The driver of a tractor-trailer inside the tunnel was trapped and perished in the fire. The NTSB reported that twenty other individuals sustained injuries of varying degrees.
The crash happened in the westbound tunnel of the twin tunnel system under Castle Rock, a sandstone formation overlooking Green River in southwest Wyoming.
