A man and four dogs were killed Monday morning when the car they were in slid and was struck by a shuttle bus on the Talkeetna Spur Highway.
61-year-old Richard C. Leo of Trapper Creek died in the crash, according to the Alaska State Troopers.
Troopers were informed of a collision near the highway’s intersection with Woodpecker Road at 8:07 a.m.
“He was driving southbound, lost traction and slid into the other lane,” said AST spokesperson Beth Ipsen. “His car slid sideways and was T-boned on the passenger side by a shuttle bus.”
According to Ipsen, the driver of the shuttle bus was uninjured. Nobody else was on board either of the two vehicles.
Traffic in the area has caused troopers to divert traffic on the south side of the highway as they investigate the collision.
According to Mat-Su Central Emergency Services Director Dennis Brodigan, responding medics performed CPR on the man from 8:18 a.m., shortly after his small sedan was struck, until an on-duty physician at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center pronounced him dead at 8:59 a.m.
“We did perform CPR for quite a while,” Brodigan said.
Alaska State Troopers temporarily rerouted traffic on the highway as a result.