Three people were killed and three more were injured Wednesday, in two separate highway car accidents in Clam Gulch and Portage.
Alaska State Troopers said they were notified of the crash in Clam Gulch, near Mile 119.5 of the Sterling Highway, just before 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. They said 40-year-old Brandon Ihde of Kenai was traveling southbound when his van crossed the center line and hit a pickup truck head-on.
Ihde and the driver of the truck, 61-year-old Ane Mane of Homer, were both declared dead at the scene.
Later in the day, at 2:19 p.m., first responders in Anchorage and Whittier were called to a crash near Mile 78 of the Seward Highway, by the construction area at the Placer Bridge. Anchorage police said 61-year-old Janelle Norman of Anchorage was driving an SUV southbound, toward the Kenai Peninsula, when she lost control on a curve and collided with a pickup truck traveling north toward Anchorage.
Norman was declared dead at the scene. The driver and two passengers in the truck were transported to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Both crashes caused temporary road closures on the highways. Investigation into the two fatal crashes is ongoing.
