Photo and information from LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office
UPDATE, 6:30 P.M. JAN 17: At 5:45 p.m. the roadway was cleared of debris and officially reopened. The crash remains under investigation and at the time of this release a cause has not be determined. Investigators spent more than two hours documenting the crash scene and will use the data and information collected, along with witness statements, to reconstruct the crash. The LaPorte County Coroner’s Office has identified two of the three fatal victims. As of the time of this release, they have spoken with one family member who lives out of state. The coroner’s staff is working to notify family members of the remaining two victims. We do not have condition updates on the two critical patients transported by La Porte County Emergency Medical Service to South Bend Memorial Hospital. Because they are related to one of the fatality victims, we do not want to release their names at this time. As the facts of this horrific crash are learned, along with notification of families, we will send out an update with the names of those involved.
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Besides the three killed, two people were transported in critical condition to South Bend Memorial Hospital. Two others refused medical treatment at the scene.
U.S. 20 at Fail was still closed as of 4 p.m.
Editor’s note: A total of five people have died in two crashes on U.S. 20 within 24 hours. On Monday night, Jan. 16, a man, 26, and a woman, 25, died when their vehicle struck a semi on U.S. 20 in Michigan City. See that story on WNLP’s main page.