A two-vehicle crash west of the Mesa Verde National Park entrance on Friday resulted in the death of one driver, Colorado State Patrol officials confirmed Wednesday.
Gene Hughes, 71, of Mancos, died just after 9 p.m. Friday from injuries sustained in a collision near the intersection of U.S. Highway 160 and County Road 34 about seven hours earlier. State Patrol Capt. Adrian Driscoll said Hughes appeared to have been turning left onto the highway from Road 34 when Brandon Pino, 25, of New Mexico, T-boned his vehicle. On Wednesday, he said Hughes apparently did not yield the right of way while turning left.
Driscoll said State Patrol investigators don’t suspect alcohol, drugs or excessive speeds as factors in the crash, and no charges will be filed against Pino, who sustained minor injuries.
State Patrol troopers, Montezuma County Sheriff’s deputies, Mancos and Cortez firefighters and Southwest Health ambulances responded to the scene of the crash about 2 p.m. Friday. Emergency crews extricated Hughes from his vehicle, a white Hyundai. A Flight for Life helicopter arrived about 3 p.m. to airlift him from the scene, but he was transported by ambulance to Southwest Memorial Hospital instead.
About 2:30 p.m. Friday, Assistant Cortez Fire Chief Shawn Bittle said the highway was closed in both directions at the intersection, but at 2:51 p.m. scanner chatter revealed only one lane remained closed. Traffic began to move freely in all lanes about 3:30 p.m.
Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin said deputies conducted traffic control just after the accident.
Driscoll said most of his troopers were busy responding to the 416 Fire, 10 miles north of Durango, so troopers from Montrose investigated the crash site, about halfway between Cortez and Mancos.