One person is dead, and seven others injured as a result of a 3-vehicle crash yesterday near Nathrop.
The crash happened at 1:30 Monday afternoon and shut down Highway 285 for nearly five hours. The Colorado State Patrol said the collision happened when a Toyota 4Runner tried to pass a long line of vehicles in a no-passing zone and crashed head-on with a rafting van.
The driver of the 4Runner, a 33-year-old man from Golden, was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. His passenger, a 49-year-old man from Saldia, was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene. Chaffee County Coroner Jeff Graf identified the passenger yesterday as Justin Stensland.
The 70-year-old driver of a Wilderness Aware Rafting van and five of its passengers are hospitalized with serious injuries.
Brian Ellis, president of Wilderness Aware Rafting, told the Colorado Sun that the van was shuttling guests on the last day of the rafting season.
The name of the deceased will be released after next of kin is notified.
