Truck causes five-vehicle crash

The five people injured in a Wednesday afternoon crash on U.S. 2 west of Kalispell sustained serious but not life-threatening injuries, according to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Jim Schneider.

Schneider said that a dump-truck driver did not react to traffic that slowed in front of him.

The dump truck rear-ended a van, pushing the van into oncoming traffic, where it collided nearly head-on with a Kia.

The van and the Kia rolled into a ditch. The dump truck then hit another pickup truck, which was pushed into a Nissan Rogue.

“The cause of the crash was the driver of the dump truck,” Schneider said. “It’s still under investigation as to why. He did not properly react.”

Schneider said charges are pending, but investigators are waiting for the results of a blood test to see if anyone involved was impaired.

Schneider said that while the crash was bad, it appeared all involved were wearing their seat belts.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.