An 18-year-old woman who suffered several broken bones in a four-vehicle crash — which killed a friend of hers in Camas late Monday afternoon — was listed in satisfactory condition Tuesday night at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said.
Sara E. McCollum of Vancouver was a passenger in a 1994 Toyota Corolla that Kali B. Oberg, also 18, had been driving on state Highway 14 east of the Lady Island Bridge, according to a Washington State Patrol report.
Oberg, also a Vancouver resident, was killed in the 4:38 p.m. head-on crash with a 1996 Kenworth cement truck that blew a tire, veered across the center line and hit three westbound cars. Another passenger in the Toyota, Aaron R. Anderson, also 18 and a Vancouver resident, suffered injuries to his hand and collarbone, the WSP report said. He was treated at the medical center and later released, a hospital employee said.
The driver of the cement truck, Yevgeniu N. Konkin, 28, of Portland suffered a broken cheekbone, the report said. He was treated at the medical center and released later Monday night.
Troopers said Konkin had been driving east when the truck’s left-front tire blew and he veered into the westbound lane.
Trooper Ryan Tanner said Tuesday night that the truck was not loaded with concrete when the accident occurred.
Contrary to a previous report, Konkin was buckled in his seat and climbed out of the truck himself, Tanner said.
None of the four drivers involved in the crash was impaired, and none had been speeding, Tanner said.
The driver of a 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jacob C. Mura, 22, of Rainier, Ore. suffered neck and back injuries but was not taken to a hospital. Michael D. Hanson, 22, a Portland resident who’d been a passenger in Mura’s Jeep, was not reported injured.
Ryan W. Baker, 30, of Washougal had been driving a 2007 Mazda and suffered a broken wrist, the report said. He was treated at the medical center and released Tuesday.
All four vehicles were totaled.
The crash snarled traffic for hours as firefighters and paramedics tended to the injured and detectives with the WSP’s Major Traffic Accident Investigation Team used computers and cameras to map and measure the scene.
It could be several weeks before the investigation is completed, Tanner said. The crash raised many questions such as why the tire blew and why Konkin couldn’t keep the truck going straight when the tire blew.
