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Fatal crash forces road closures in downtown SLC

Posted at 7:23 AM, Aug 09, 2013
and last updated 2013-08-09 13:26:22-04

SALT LAKE CITY -- Salt Lake City police closed the intersection of 600 S West Temple on Friday morning due to a crash that left one person dead and another critically injured.

The crash occurred around 5:30 a.m. A witness told FOX 13 News the crash occurred when a Mercury Cougar ran a red light and was t-boned by a pickup truck traveling north on West Temple.

Bryan Colby Hawkins, who witnessed the crash, said he called 911 after he discovered that a passenger in the Mercury Cougar did not have a pulse.

"Somebody on the phone with 911 [...] told us to pull him out, so we pulled him out, started doing chest compressions until paramedics arrived," Hawkins said.

A close friend of the person driving the Mercury Cougar told FOX 13 News he was speeding toward a hospital because one of his friends was in labor.

Det. Veronica Montoya, Salt Lake City Police Department, said the intersection was closed off for one block in each direction.

Police urged drivers to avoid the area and seek alternate routes Friday morning as the investigation was expected to last a few hours.

"We're telling drivers that if you are going to be needing to be go to the north side of this area, maybe get off on 600 North. South side, you have the 900 South exit and you also have 1300 South," Montoya said.

Watch FOX 13 News and fox13now.com for updates.