MILLCREEK, Utah, March 15, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A male driver is dead and his female passenger was seriously injured after their car hit a power pole Thursday afternoon in Millcreek.
Unified Police Department has identified the deceased driver as 22-year-old Ibrahim Yassin.
The 22-year-old female passenger is in serious but stable condition, UPD tweeted at 8:30 p.m.
The accident happened at about 4:30 p.m. at 950 East and 3300 South. As of 5:45 p.m., officials said they expected to be on the scene for another four hours or so, and said the road would be closed for much or all of that time.
“The vehicle was westbound on 3300 South, apparently traveling at a high rate of speed,” Detective Ken Hansen, Unified Police Department, told Gephardt Daily at the scene. “The driver lost control of the vehicle. The car rolled on its side and hit a power pole.
“That power pole is still leaning over, suspended by some support wire, so right now, the power company is here and we’re probably going to have traffic closed both ways for a few hours.”
The driver, described by Hansen as “a younger male,” was dead at the scene. His passenger was transported to an area hospital in serious condition. Neither victim’s age or name was immediately released.
Hansen said witnesses told officers the vehicle was speeding before it rolled and hit the pole.
“I’m sure the surface didn’t help at all,” Hansen said of the rain-slicked roadway. “It’s so early in the investigation. Why he was traveling at a high rate of speed may take weeks to figure out. The speed limit is a limit for dry roads. For wet or snowy roads, that limit is way too high.”
The pole was suspended by cables running northward, and looked like it would fall to the south, Hansen said. Workers had cut power to the pole and would have to remove it while the road remained closed. They could then remove the car and its driver, put up a new power pole and activate power.
That process would take several hours, Hansen said, suggesting drivers stay clear of the area.
The outage affected nine customers as of 6 p.m., according to a Rocky Mountain Power outage map.
It’s always sad when a life is lost, but someone so young is almost unbearable. Love and comfort is being sent to his friends and family.