Two people were killed and two seriously injured Thursday night in a five-car accident involving a wrong-way driver on southbound Interstate 5 at South 272nd Street in Federal Way.
A Federal Way man, 55, and a Seattle woman, age 61, died in the wreck, according to the Washington State Patrol.
WSP arrested a 51-year-old Puyallup man in connection with the incident. Drugs and alcohol reportedly were a factor, said WSP spokesman Cliff Pratt. The driver was upgraded from serious to satisfactory condition Thursday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Driving a 2006 Chrysler 300 sedan northbound on I-5, the driver reportedly crossed over the median by a turnaround for emergency vehicles near South 288th Street, Pratt said. The Chrysler then headed north into southbound traffic.
A 61-year-old Seattle man, a passenger in the car driven by the Seattle woman, remained in serious condition Thursday at Harborview.
A 25-year-old Auburn woman, the driver of a fourth vehicle, was taken to Auburn Medical Center to be treated for undisclosed injuries. A 49-year-old Sumner woman, the driver of a fifth vehicle, was not injured.
The accident backed up I-5 southbound traffic for as far as five miles by about 7 p.m. Thursday, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. Three general-purpose lanes were blocked during the accident investigation for about four hours. Vehicles were allowed to use the carpool lane to drive past the accident.
Four of the five vehicles in the accident were totaled, including the Puyallup man’s car, according to the State Patrol.
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