4 Minnesotans traveling with church group die in Utah chain-reaction crash

Four Twin Cities residents traveling with a church group, including one who was pregnant, are dead after a four-vehicle crash in central Utah.

A Utah resident riding an all-terrain vehicle was also killed in the chain-reaction accident, which occurred Thursday near the city of Price, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.

The incident began when an SUV pulled into the path of a truck pulling two trailers. The truck driver swerved to avoid the SUV but lost control, crossed the median and hit a Nissan Rogue driving in the opposite lane.

The people in the Nissan were two couples from the Twin Cities, and all four were killed on impact, said Sgt. Chris Pugliese with the Utah Highway Patrol.

“It was a very violent crash,” he said.

The victims were Sang Her, 56, and Lee Thao, 38, both of Brooklyn Center, and Bee Moua, 26, and Mai Lor, 25, both of St. Paul. One of the two women killed was pregnant, Pugliese said.

KSL-TV in Salt Lake City reported that Lor was pregnant and that she and Moua were married earlier this year.

The four Minnesotans were traveling with a church group, which was in another car and escaped the accident. Members of the church group told authorities that the four victims were traveling from Moab to Salt Lake City. Pugliese said they were planning to fly back to the Twin Cities that night.

After striking the Nissan, the truck pushed the Nissan off the road and into a rock embankment. Both vehicles also struck an ATV that was traveling on the highway’s shoulder, killing the ATV driver, a 35-year-old Utah man.

The truck driver and the driver and passenger in the SUV that started the chain-reaction crash suffered minor injuries.

Pugliese said the Utah Highway Patrol’s investigation will be forwarded to the Carbon County attorney, who will decide if any charges are merited.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.