Three people killed, seven seriously injured in 3-vehicle crash on Highway 97 south of Chemult

(Update: OSP releases names, details of crash)

CHEMULT, Ore. (KTVZ) – Three people were killed and seven others seriously injured in a three-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 97 south of Chemult late Saturday afternoon, Oregon State Police said Sunday.

OSP troopers and emergency personnel responded around 4:15 p.m. to the crash near milepost 230, south of the junction with state Highway 138, the turnoff to Diamond Lake.

Troopers said driver Andrew Castiricone, 58, of San Carlos, California was heading south in a Chevy Suburban when the vehicle in front of him “rapidly decelerated.”

Castiricone swerved into the oncoming, northbound lanes, striking head-on an FJ Cruiser driven by Ramsey Shanbaky, 43, of San Mateo, California. The Cruiser, in turn, struck the vehicle behind it, a Subaru driven by a 34-year-old Medford man.

Another vehicle, a Lexus driven by a 63-year-old Chico, California man, sustained damage from the crash debris, troopers said.

Castiricone, Shanbaky and one of the Suburban’s five passengers, Nicole Lindeman, 20, of San Carlos, California, died at the crash scene, OSP reported.

The four other Suburban passengers, also from San Carlos, a 52-year-old San Carlos woman and three juveniles, were taken to an area hospital with injuries. One of the juveniles was critically injured, troopers said.

A juvenile passenger in the FJ Cruiser and the driver and a passenger in the Subaru, a 30-year-old Klamath Falls woman, also were taken to the hospital. A passenger in the Lexus, a 56-year-old Chico, California woman, was uninjured.

The crash blocked or limited traffic on Highway 97 for about three hours.

OSP was assisted by Chiloquin Fire and Rescue, Chemult Rural Fire and the Oregon Department of Forestry.