Three people killed in head-on crash near Chelan
May 2, 2026, 1:40 PM
State troopers respond to a deadly three-car collision near Chelan that killed three people Friday night. (Photo: Washington State Patrol)
(Photo: Washington State Patrol)
A terrible head-on crash involving three vehicles killed three people and blocked U.S. 97 for several hours.
The crash took place Friday night, about ten minutes after 9:00, about three miles east of the town of Chelan.
State troopers say the causing driver was a 47-year-0ld man from the city of Republic, in northeast Washington’s Ferry County.
He was driving a Chevy Silverado pickup truck, when investigators believe he crossed the highway’s center line and struck an oncoming Honda Civic with two people inside.
The pickup truck then struck another vehicle, a Jeep SUV.
The impact killed the driver of the pickup, as well as the driver and a passenger in the Jeep.
Both occupants of the Jeep were in their 20s and residents of Orcas Island.
The Jeep flipped upside down and landed on its top on the shoulder of the northbound lanes.
Police say all three of the deceased were wearing their seatbelts.
It’s unknown whether alcohol or drugs were a factor in the collision.
The two people in the Honda were both injured.
Their car ended up in highway’s southbound lane.
Medics transported the driver of the Honda, a 53-year-old man from Omak, and a passenger, a 53-year-old man from Bridgeport, Washington, to Lake Chelan Health Hospital.
