One dead after multi-vehicle accident on Loop 202 in Mesa
May 24, 2018, 3:15 PM | Updated: 3:20 pm
(Twitter/@ArizonaDOT)
PHOENIX — A pedestrian has died after suffering from injuries sustained during a multi-vehicle car accident on a Mesa freeway on Thursday.
Quentin G. Mehr, a spokesman with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said the unidentified pedestrian was struck while attempting to divert traffic from a prior crash on the Loop 202 eastbound at Recker Road.
Mehr said the initial accident occurred just before 11 a.m., as the driver of an SUV struck a wall while attempting to exit the freeway at Recker Road. That crash resulted in no injuries, but it blocked the center emergency and HOV lanes.
Three people stopped their cars in the HOV lane at the scene of the crash in an attempt to help the driver involved in the first accident.
The drivers of the second and third cars got out of their vehicles in an attempt to get traffic to move over. At that time, Mehr said, another vehicle driving in the HOV lane saw the collision and the stopped cars and swerved left in an apparent effort to avoid another crash.
The vehicle then swerved to the right across the HOV lane and struck the victim, who was the driver of the second car, as he was standing outside of his vehicle.
The victim was initially transported from the scene with serious injuries, but later succumbed to them.
The eastbound portion of the freeway was initially closed from Higley to Recker roads, but it reopened just before 1:15 p.m.
Mehr said the investigation of the collision is ongoing.