CHANDLER, Ariz. - A wrong-way crash involving three vehicles killed two people and closed southbound State Route 347 Monday night, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
The crash happened south of Riggs Road just before 8:30 p.m. Monday. DPS said 70-year-old Karen Ankiewicz from Sun City West was driving her 2017 gray Hyundai sedan northbound in the southbound lanes of SR-347. She collided head-on with a red 2010 Chrysler 300 driven by 26-year-old Julissa Torres from Maricopa.
DPS said Torres and Ankiewicz were pronounced dead at the scene. Three passengers riding in the Chrysler were taken to a hospital. A 26-year-old man and a 4-year-old child were admitted with injuries not considered life-threatening, DPS said, while a 1-year-old child was evaluated and released.
A third vehicle, a 2002 white Pontiac sedan, struck the Chrysler after the initial collision, DPS said. The driver, a 57-year-old man, and two passengers, 13 and 15, in that vehicle were taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.
The investigation is ongoing and DPS said it's not known at this time if impairment or a medical issue were factors in the deadly wrong-way crash.
The southbound lanes of SR-347 opened just before 4 a.m. Tuesday.