Falling ice traps driver, closes highway

Published: April 6, 2012 

A woman was trapped in her vehicle when ice fell from a cliff next to the Seward Highway Friday April 6, 2012.

Photo by Dana Thomas

Seward Highway incident closed roadway for a time south of Milepost 113.

Update: Anchorage police say the driver injured by falling ice Friday is Amanda Lawton, 32. Lawton suffered serious injuries to her head and neck, said police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker. She remained at a local hospital Saturday, Parker said.

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Original story:

A woman was trapped in a pickup on the Seward Highway on Friday after falling ice crushed the vehicle just south of Anchorage, according to police and fire dispatchers and passersby.

Anchorage police said the highway was closed between Mileposts 113 and 114. One lane reopened for alternating traffic just before 6 p.m.

Firefighters used extrication equipment to free the woman, and paramedics drove her to a local hospital, a dispatch supervisor said. The woman was injured, but her condition was not made public.

A 911 call reporting the ice slide and entrapment at Mile 113.5, south of Potter Marsh between a weigh station and McHugh Creek, came in about 4:30 p.m. Photos sent to the Daily News from other motorists showed a nearly flattened, red pickup.

Ice fell on the same section of highway from the cliffs above just after noon, a state transportation department spokeswoman said. That slide partially blocked one lane and was quickly cleared by a road crew.


Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.

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