A highway accident near the Guam town of Piti, on Marine Corps Highway, shut down the island’s traffic for several hours and left two victims seriously injured after the wreck.
The accident occurred near 7:45 a.m. local time when the semi truck attempted to make a u-turn. A red Toyota Camry then crashed into the truck. The impact was so bad that local authorities initially expected there would be fatalities from the crash. However, rescue workers found that the two occupants of the Toyota Camry were alive but injured. They were taken to the nearby hospital, where authorities listed their status as stable.
The driver of the semi truck was uninjured in the impact.
According to authorities, the Camry’s front end crumpled against the tires of the truck’s cab. The impact left the vehicles straddling most of the Marine Corps Highway, which required police to shut down the entire road for several hours while investigating the scene for evidence. Authorities brought in a crime scene analysis unit to determine the details of the crash. Of particular interest is whether this portion of the highway was an appropriate area for such a large truck to attempt a u-turn in traffic.
Sgt. Mike Aguon of the local police stated, “They will look into everything — speed as well as traffic direction and flow of the vehicles at the time of the crash. We are treating it as a serious crash and hoping everyone turns out OK.”
The accident also drew other authorities from the island, including the department of taxation and the motor carrier authority, because the crash involved a commercial hauling vehicle. Inspectors for the motor carrier authority said they saw no particular errors right away, but that a post-crash inspection of the vehicle would reveal more information. Because of all the different agencies investigating the crash, traffic was not able to resume transit on the highway for several hours.
