This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Four people were injured — two critically — in a late Monday night crash that also left eight cows dead on a Sanpete County highway.
Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Todd Royce said the chain-reaction accident occurred about 6:25 p.m., just as darkness was falling on State Route 89, about 4 miles south of Fairview. That was when a southbound Jeep Cherokee with three occupants plowed into a herd of cows crossing the road west to east.
A man and a woman riding in the front of the Jeep suffered "major facial trauma" and were taken to Sanpete Valley Hospital in Mount Pleasant before being flown to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo. They were listed in critical condition.
A boy riding in the back of the Jeep was taken to Sanpete Valley Hospital in serious condition, but his injuries were not believed life-threatening, Royce said.
A 16-year-old boy, on an ATV assisting the herding effort, tried to avoid the approaching Jeep by going into the shoulder, but was struck by a cow sent flying through the air by the collision. The youth suffered minor injuries, Royce said.
The accident remained under investigation.
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