PHOTO: Three people are dead and two others are hurt after an SUV driver crashed into a trailer on Interstate 17 in central Phoenix on Thursday.
It all started around 6 p.m. when a pickup truck pulling a trailer stopped in the HOV lane on the southbound side just south of Dunlap Avenue because there was a problem with the trailer, according to Capt. Jesse Galvez with the Department of Public Safety. Five people in the truck got out to see what was wrong. As they were between the trailer and the truck, an SUV driver slammed into the trailer, Galvez said. Three people died at the scene. One person was critically hurt and was rushed to the hospital. The fifth person wasn't hurt. The SUV driver was taken to the hospital with critical injuries, Galvez said. I-17 was closed in both directions after the crash. The northbound lanes reopened around 6:30 p.m. The southbound lanes reopened just before 9:30 p.m.