PORT ANGELES — Two people were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on Saturday after their van flew over a dirt berm blocking a dead-end road at about 5:55 p.m., crash-landed and rolled once.
The road, known as the old State Highway 112 access road off Laird Road, runs behind The Junction Tavern near the intersection of U.S. Highway 101 and State Highway 112.
Alcohol was involved in the incident and felony charges are being considered against the van’s driver, said State Patrol spokeswoman Krista Hedstrom.
The State Patrol did not have the names of the van’s driver and passenger — nor the extent of their injuries — Saturday night.
Jeff Paladino of Sequim said he and three friends witnessed the wreck from State Highway 112 while driving back from a day of hiking at Lake Crescent.
“It struck the driver and me as odd, seeing this large white vehicle go up in the air and then go down,” he said.
“We didn’t know where it had gone. We didn’t realize it had gone over the berm.
When the four people understood what had happened, they “stopped right there on the highway, because there was no traffic,” Paladino said.
He and two other men who had been in the car walked down the hillside next to the highway to reach the van, which was still running.
Smoke was trailing out from under the hood.
“We did what we could to get the doors open, and get the engine turned off,” Paladino said.
“The people were unconscious when we arrived, so we didn’t want to move them.
“We were mainly concerned about a fire, so we managed to get the van’s engine turned off.
Having seen another driver stop to phone 9-1-1, “we thought it best to wait for help to arrive.”
