PORT LUDLOW — A 66-year-old Freeland man died in a three-car wreck on state Highway 19 between Chimacum and Port Ludlow that backed up traffic Friday afternoon.
The name of the man who died has not been released because next of kin have not been notified, the State Patrol said.
The man was driving a brown 1997 Infinity Qx4 four-door SUV northbound on Highway 19 when the SUV crossed the center line into the southbound lane near milepost 3 and struck a 2005 GMC box truck driven by Brayan Valdez Torres, 22, of Tacoma, the State Patrol said.
The SUV came to rest in the southbound lane, while Valdez Torres’ truck went off the road and down an embankment.
A third vehicle, a 1990 Honda Accord traveling southbound, swerved right to avoid the wreck and overturned down the same embankment.
The passenger in the box truck, Luis Maturino-Morales, 43, of Tacoma, and the passenger in the Honda, Horacio Reyes Ramos, 18, of Bremerton, were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the State Patrol said.
Valdez Torres and the driver of the Honda, 24-year-old Albino Reyes Ramos of Bremerton, were both transported by ambulance to Jefferson Healthcare hospital in Port Townsend.
Jefferson Healthcare would not release the status of Valdez Torres or A. Reyes Ramos. Both H. Reyes Ramos and Maturino-Morales were discharged from Harborview on Saturday.
The wreck was called in at 1 p.m., and first responders from Port Ludlow Fire and Rescue, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue, the Quilcene Fire Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and one engine from Naval Magazine Indian Island were dispatched.
The wreck blocked traffic in both directions and the Jefferson County Department of Public Works stopped traffic at Chimacum Road and Oak Bay Road to reroute traffic.
The scene was turned over to the State Patrol at about 2:30 p.m. According to Trooper Russ Winger, State Patrol spokesman, troopers reopened Highway 19 shortly before 8 p.m. Friday.
The cause of the wreck remains under investigation.
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Jefferson County Editor/ Traffic was blocked at the intersection of Chimacum Road and state Highway 19 because of a fatal accident Friday. (Cydney McFarland/Peninsula Daily News)
