One dead after car crashes off overpass onto I-5 in Tukwila

TUKWILA, Wash. — One person is dead, one is seriously injured, and three others suffered minor injuries when a car reportedly came off of an overpass onto Interstate 5 in Tukwila Friday.

Four total cars were involved in the crash, one car came down off State Route 599 and three cars were involved on I-5.

“It was crazy to see a freaking car flying over the overpass, it’s just insane,” said DeJean Bowens. Bowens car was hit in the crash, he says he was the second or third car involved after the Black SUV fell from SR 599.

Washington State Patrol reported the fatal collision on I-5 at the SR 599 / Interurban overpass in Tukwila around 10:30 a.m. on Friday.

“I tried to avoid the accident as best as I could, but I ended up getting hit from behind and then in the front and I just got hit everywhere. I don’t know exactly who and what hit me,” Bowens recalled.

One person from the car that went off the overpass is dead, and one is seriously injured.

A spokesperson for the Puget Sound Fire Department said one person was ejected from that car before it went off of the overpass; that person suffered minor injuries and refused treatment.

Washington State Patrol says the man was arrested for felony hit and run, though they are not sure he is the driver.

The charge comes from the man running from the accident after he was ejected from the SUV, then a trooper tracking him down. Washington State Patrol says the man was not answering questions related to the accident.

“This is just not a common occurrence. 34 years of doing this with the state patrol, I don’t remember, especially this overpass, a vehicle coming off the overpass so that’s what we want to figure out is why, what were the factors that this vehicles coming off the overpass,” Washington State Trooper Rick Johnson said.

Three other cars were hit on I-5 when the vehicle fell, including Bowens. He also said a gun was next to the person who died.

None of the injuries to the people in the three other cars were serious, though the occupants still feel the emotional and physical impact.

“I’m hurting, my back hurts, my head hurts, my arm hurts, my mother hurting. It’s not good,” Bowens said.

According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, traffic was backed up for four miles heading north on I-5 at 11 a.m and lanes fully reopened around 3:20 p.m.

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