U.S. Highway 550 is closed at mile marker 101 after a fatal accident was reported at 4:18 p.m. Few details were available Thursday night about this accident, and it was unclear when the highway would reopen. Traffic is being diverted around the crash site along County Road 3A.
The single-vehicle rollover was the second fatal vehicle accident here in Ouray County in less than 24 hours.
Another fatal accident happened on Wednesday night, only four miles up the road. That accident – a head-on collision – happened at mile marker 105, between Mall Road and County Road 10.
That accident happened around 8:15 p.m. Wednesday when a Kia Optima was traveling south toward Ridgway, driven by 68-year-old Steven Altop of Grand Junction, according to the Colorado State Patrol. The initial investigation indicates the Kia drifted across the center line and struck a 1997 Dodge Ram truck, said Trooper Gabriel Moltrer.
Altop was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Ouray County Coroner Glenn Boyd. The truck driver, an unidentified 75-year-old man from Delta, was flown to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Grand Junction with serious injuries. The driver of the truck was not wearing a seatbelt, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
