Four killed, seven injured in Hwy. 30 minivan-pickup crash

(Update: OSP confirms number of deaths, injuries; initial details; highway reopens)

Four people were killed and seven others injured Friday morning when a minivan turned into the path of a pickup truck hauling a horse trailer on U.S. Highway 30 in northwest Oregon, Oregon State Police reported.

A Honda minivan with eight occupants was westbound on Highway 30, about 14 miles west of Clatskanie, when it attempted a left turn onto Clifton Road, into the path of an oncoming Ford F-450 pickup towing an empty horse trailer, OSP Captain Tim Fox said.

Four of the people in the minivan were killed and three others were taken by Life Flight helicopters to Portland-area hospitals. Another van occupant was was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, as were three people in the pickup truck.

Fox said no names would be released until Saturday “at the earliest.”

KGW quoted police as saying the four who were killed were among a family of eight in the minivan who were heading to the beach.

The crash occurred near milepost 75, about five miles from the Columbia/Clatsop county line, OSP Captain Tim Fox said.

There was no detour available in the area, Fox said. One westbound lane was reopened by mid-afternoon and the highway was open in both directions an hour later.

ODOT said earlier travelers should use Washington state Route 4 as an alternate route, using the Lewis and Clark Bridge in Rainier and the Astoria-Megler Bridge in Astoria to reach the Washington side of the Columbia River.

Follow traffic updates on our ODOT TripCheck page. We’ll have more information as it’s released.

It was Oregon’s second four-fatality crash in less than two weeks. On the night of May 19, four people, including three Eagle Point High School seniors, were killed when the driver of a car on Interstate 5 north of Roseburg turned around and headed the wrong way, colliding hearly head-on with an oncoming SUV.