Alaska State Troopers are investigating a three-vehicle collision Sunday night near Fairbanks that killed two people and injured seven others.
Troopers identified the dead in an online statement Tuesday as Fairbanks resident Daniel Dowhitt, 30, and Atlanta, Ga. resident Aditi Subramanian, 27. Their families have been notified.
Troopers said they got several 911 calls just after 6 p.m. Sunday reporting the crash near the intersection of Chena Hot Springs and Esro roads, about 3 miles east of the Steese Highway.
A trooper spokesperson said reports had come in that Dowhitt, the driver and sole occupant of a Jeep eastbound on Chena Hot Springs Road, was operating his vehicle erratically. Investigators believe Dowhitt rear-ended a Subaru he was following, before his Jeep crossed into the westbound lane and hit an oncoming Toyota SUV head-on.
Dowhitt and Subramanian, one of the Toyota’s six occupants, both died at the scene according to troopers. The other people from the Toyota, as well as both occupants of the Subaru, were initially taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. Two of them were medevaced to an Anchorage hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries.
Chena Hot Springs Road was closed for about four hours while troopers investigated the scene in sub-zero temperatures.
The spokesperson said the icy roadway may have been a factor, and that investigators haven’t yet determined whether alcohol or other drugs played a role. The investigation is ongoing.
Tim Ellis is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
