A Utah family is mourning the loss of five relatives, including three kids, who were killed in a 22-car crash during a sandstorm on Sunday.
Numerous accidents occurred on Interstate 15 in Millard County Sunday afternoon as a ‘blinding dust storm’ blew across the highway.
Video captured by passing motorists showed various trucks, RVs, trailers and cars ground to a halt and surrounded by wreckage scattered across the asphalt.
Chain reaction accidents left eight dead and multiple people in critical condition.
Among those killed were Kortni Sawyer, 30, of St. George, along with her six-year-old son, Riggins, and two-year-old daughter, Franki, ABC 4 reported.
Her brother-in-law, Race Sawyer, 37, of Lehi, and his son, Rider, 12, were also killed. Officials say Race was driving the vehicle that the family was traveling when the crash occurred.
Kortni’s four-year-old son Blue survived the accident. The boy was released from the hospital Monday after sustaining several injuries during the crash.
Among those killed were Kortni Sawyer, 30, (left) along with her son, Riggins, 6, and daughter, Franki, 2. (Kortni is pictured with her husband, Mason, right, and some of their children)
Race Sawyer, 37, and his son, Rider, 12, were also killed. Officials say Race was driving the vehicle that the family was traveling when the crash occurred (Sawyer family pictured above)
Eight people were killed in a 22-car pile-up on a Utah interstate Sunday afternoon (pictured above), including five members of the same family
Kortni, who is described by her loved ones as ‘a loving wife, mother, daughter, and sister among her family, as well as a dedicated nurse,’ is also survived by her husband, Mason.
Mason was reportedly in family’s hometown of St. George waiting for his wife and children to return home at the time of the crash.
He says his son, Riggs, ‘had recently graduated preschool, and loved basketball, superheroes, and Legos’.
Mason (right) says Kortni (left) was ‘a loving wife, mother, daughter, and sister among her family, as well as a dedicated nurse’
His daughter Franki was ‘spunky and known as ‘Daddy’s Princess,’ her brothers’ shadow, and ‘Mom’s mini-me”.
Race, a healthcare worker, former boxer and mixed martial artist, leaves behind a wife, Keisha, a daughter, Faith, and son, Ran.
He is remembered as a ‘dedicated and loving husband and father, an incredible athlete’ and someone who ‘loved to play games, and preferred Snickers for breakfast and burgers for dinner’.
Phil Gephardt, who owns the facility where Race trained and fought for roughly six years, says he was a sportsman, family man and altogether great guy.
‘The two most important things to Race was absolutely family and just probably making memories with that family,’ Gephardt told Fox 13.
A GoFundMe account was created to help the surviving members of the Sawyer family.
As of early Tuesday morning, more than $227,000 had been donated to the fundraiser.
A GoFundMe account was created to help the surviving members of the Sawyer family. As of early Tuesday morning, more than $227,000 had been donated to the fundraiser (Photo above shows crash that took the lives of five members of the Sawyer family)
The deadly accident (pictured above) also took the lives of Richard and Maricela Lorenzon, of Salt Lake City, and 15-year-old Cameron Valentine of Yuma, Arizona
The deadly accident also took the lives of Richard and Maricela Lorenzon, of Salt Lake City, and 15-year-old Cameron Valentine of Yuma, Arizona.
A GoFundMe account has also been set up for the Lorenzon family. The couple leases behind four daughters ages 7, 9, 21 and 26.
Sandstorms are a common occurrence in the largely arid state, with weather forecasts for the region Sunday afternoon warning of ‘wind gusts in excess of 50 mph’ and advising people to ‘use caution if traveling through this area.’
Utah Governor Spencer Cox says he is ‘stunned and saddened by the horrific accidents.’