Teen killed as crash slices car in half near Puyallup

PUYALLUP, Wash. -- A 19-year-old woman was killed after she collided with another car along River Road with so much force that it sliced her car in half.

At least three others were injured in the spectacular crash, including a 14-year-old girl who was riding in the car with the 19-year-old. Troopers believe alcohol and drugs are factors in the accident.

The 19-year-old driver, identified by the Washington State Patrol as Amanda N. Young of Tacoma, was heading northbound in a black 1987 Mercedes around 5:30 a.m. Thursday when she fishtailed and crossed into the southbound lanes, said Trooper Brandy Kessler with the Washington State Patrol.

Her car smashed into a southbound car, and the impact sliced the Mercedes literally in half, sending the car's back end flying 100 feet into the nearby Puyallup River.

Young was killed on impact, Kessler said. She was thrown from the car and landed near a guardrail.

A 14-year-old girl in the passenger seat of the Mercedes sustained injuries, including broken bones, and was taken to Mary Bridge Hospital in Tacoma, where she was later listed in satisfactory condition, Kessler said. She was not wearing a seat belt.

A Buckley man in his late 20s who was in the southbound car, a 1992 Nissan, was taken to Tacoma General Hospital with critical injuries.

Young and the 14-year-old are both members of the Puyallup tribe, said John Wimer, tribal media spokesperson.

"The tribe is very saddened by the accident. It takes the safety of our tribal youth very seriously. When something like this happens, the tribe grieves as a whole," Wimer said.

Troopers say a third woman in her 20s later was found on the bank of the Puyallup River near Fife, downstream from the crash scene. At first it was believed she was thrown from the Mercedes and washed downstream, but troopers later determined she was not involved in the collision. The woman was taken to a local hospital suffering from hypothermia.

The driver of a third car, a 2004 Pontiac that smashed into one of the other ones after the initial impact, had just minor injuries. He was treated and released at a local hospital.

A fourth car sustained damage from flying debris but otherwise, its driver was OK.

Kessler says troopers believe alcohol and drugs could be factors in the crash.

Crews retrieved the rear section of the demolished Mercedes from the river later in the morning, and it's believed that all victims from the crash have been accounted for.