Police say trailer involved in triple fatal accident was parked illegally

LYNNWOOD, Wash. – The semi-trailer involved in a deadly crash in Snohomish County was illegally parked, according to law enforcement officials.

The truck driver responsible for the trailer could face a civil parking infraction.

Three people were killed when a car crashed into the back of the trailer near Lynnwood early Wednesday morning.

A 15-year-old girl was also injured inside the car - she was listed in stable condition at Harborview Medical Center.

Identities were not immediately released. But the Henry M. Jackson High School PTSA, however, issued a statement: "This morning we learned three of our Jackson High students were involved in a fatal car accident. A Cascade High School student was also in the accident and is in stable condition in the hospital."

The crash happened on Alderwood Mall Parkway just north of I-5 and I-405 and backed up traffic for hours.

Police have not yet pinpointed a cause for the crash.

“This is a significant collision,” said Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Shari Ireton, “To take a vehicle and literally move it underneath a tractor trailer.”

The Kia Sorrento was left crushed under the empty semi-trailer.

Investigators said the driver of the Kia left the northbound lane of traffic and appears to have driven straight under this parked trailer.

The force of the crash nearly sliced open the Kia horizontally. Three of the four passengers died on scene and a teenager was rushed to the hospital.

The stretch of roadway where the crash happened has plenty of signs warning drivers against illegal parking but the sheriff’s office said the trailer involved in this crash was in a legal parking space, except it should not have been facing in the opposite direction of traffic.

The identities and ages of the three people killed this morning will be released by the county’s medical examiner.