ALBANY — Officials on Monday released the names of workers killed or injured last Thursday in one of Oregon’s deadliest car crashes.
Oregon State Police have released the names of seven people who were killed and four injured when a cargo truck veered off Interstate 5 and struck a van parked a few miles away. Agricultural region of the Willamette Valley.
The men were identified as 31-year-old Eduardo Lopez; Alejandro Jimenez Hernandez, 36; Josue Garcia Garcia, 30; Luis Enrique Gomez Reyes, 30; Javier Suarez, 58; Alejandra Espinoza Carpio, 39; and Juan Carlos Leyva Carrillo, 37.
Those who suffered serious injuries have been identified as Maria Flores Martinez, 60; Hector Galindo, 45; and Jose Eduardo Solis Flores, 41. Police said 40-year-old Adan Garcia Garcia suffered minor injuries. Police said Martinez, Galindo and Solis Flores were being treated at medical facilities on Monday.
The Mexican Consulate in Portland said that both the dead and the injured were daily wage workers of Mexican nationality. Police said all but one of the Oregon towns lived near the crash site.
When the truck collided with the van, it pushed it into the back of another truck parked in front of the vehicle. Police said a 36-year-old man in that vehicle was not injured.
Police said the truck driver, Lincoln Clayton Smith, 52, of North Highlands, Calif., was arrested Friday on suspicion of murder, drunk driving, reckless driving and assault. He was being held without bail at the Marion County Jail on Monday.
It is currently unknown whether Smith’s case has been assigned to the state public defender’s office or a specific attorney.
Police said Monday that the criminal investigation into the accident is still ongoing.
Albany is located between Salem and Eugene, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) south of Portland. Interstate 5 is the major north–south highway on the West Coast of the United States.
