A tragic four-vehicle crash occurred on Sunday, October 26, just before the afternoon faded into evening, on Interstate 5 in Marion County. According to the Oregon State Police, the incident took place near milepost 272, as a Chevrolet Silverado, helmed by Didier Lair Fuentes of Keizer, aged 26, attempted to merge onto the southbound lanes from Highway 214.
The Silverado was reported to have made a severe left turn, crossing the paths of oncoming traffic. This erratic maneuver placed it directly in the way of a southbound Western Star commercial motor vehicle with a trailer, piloted by Manmohan Singh of Surrey, BC, who was 36. The two vehicles collided, resulting in the CMV jackknifing and barreling towards the median, taking a Jeep Grand Cherokee, driven by 63-year-old Jeff David Peterson, also from Keizer, along with it. A fourth vehicle, a Toyota Matrix being operated by Murphy, Idaho’s Ashley Danielle Peugh, aged 34, managed to avoid a direct hit but was damaged by the debris flung from the wreckage.
The aftermath was marked with chaos as emergency services rushed to the scene. Fuentes suffered the most dire of fates, succumbing to his injuries after being transported to a local hospital. Oregon State Police, in their initial findings, announced that Singh walked away from the crash uninjured, while Peterson escaped harm as well. Peugh didn’t emerge unscathed, facing minor injuries after the ordeal…