Undersheriff: Medical emergency may have caused Skamania crash

Investigators say that the driver killed in a crash Tuesday afternoon near the border between Clark and Skamania counties may have had a medical emergency just before the crash.

Deputies with the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office responded to the crash, reported at about 3:15 p.m. on Northeast Washougal River Road near Malfait Tracks Road, Undersheriff Pat Bond said.

They arrived to find that a 1991 Chevy pickup had struck a tree head-on, Bond said.

Witnesses told investigators that the pickup had been traveling east when the driver pulled to the side of the road to let traffic pass, Bond said.

After two cars went by, the pickup re-entered the roadway and the driver accelerated, passing the two cars before going off the roadway to the right, striking a tree, Bond said.

The driver in the pickup died, Bond said, but the identity of the deceased was not being released pending next of kin notification. The passenger in the pickup was hospitalized; that person’s condition was not available.