Potter Marsh is one of those stretches of highway that Alaska drivers know by heart. It’s the scenic pullout south of Anchorage where tourists stop to photograph salmon runs and moose, and where locals have driven past a thousand times without a second thought. On Wednesday morning, that familiar stretch became the scene of a tragedy that no one who was on the Seward Highway that day will forget.
At approximately 8:59 a.m. on July 1, Anchorage police and fire crews were called to a three-vehicle collision along the Seward Highway between Rabbit Creek Rifle Range and Potter Valley Road. What they found when they arrived was serious. All three vehicles involved ended up at least partially submerged in the water along the marsh, with one vehicle coming to rest on the west side of the highway near the railroad tracks, and two others located on the east side closer to Potter Marsh itself.
Two people were pronounced dead at the scene. A third person was transported to a local hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening. Anchorage Police Department spokesperson Adam Nicely confirmed the details to local outlets, and the department’s Major Collision Investigation Unit was assigned to work the scene throughout the day. As of this writing, the identities of the two people who died have not been released, pending next-of-kin notification…