This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Two Cedar City men are dead after a Washington County crash Saturday morning.

The men, 25-year-old Nigel J. Chavez and 26-year-old Matthew Chavez, were passengers in a sedan going north on Interstate 15 about 8 miles north of Toquerville, according to a Utah Highway Patrol news release.

About 3:50 a.m., between mile markers 34 and 35, the car approached a "slow-moving" semitruck and trailer in the right lane, the release said. The car's driver swerved to the left to avoid the trailer, but did not react quickly enough, the release said, and the trailer sliced through the car, killing two men — one in the front passenger seat and the other in the right rear passenger — on impact.

The car's driver suffered minor injuries, according to UHP Trooper Evan Kirby, and the semi driver was not hurt.

Alcohol is being investigated as a factor in the crash, the release said.

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