3 die in wrong-way crash on Highway 20 in Delaware County

Three people in a car driving the wrong way on Highway 20 east of Earlville died early Sunday after a fiery crash with a semi-trailer truck, according to the Iowa State Patrol.

The crash happened at 3:36 a.m. Sunday near the highway’s Mile Marker 287 in Delaware County. A 2014 Chevrolet Impala was driving east in the westbound lanes and collided head-on with a Freightliner semi traveling west.

Both vehicles became “fully engulfed in fire,” a crash report states.

The Impala’s driver and two passengers were killed in the crash, the patrol said. The driver was wearing a seat belt but the two passengers were not. A crash report does not disclose their names or ages.

The driver of the semi, 62, was wearing a seat belt and was injured, but the report does not indicate the severity. The driver’s name also was not disclosed.

The crash remained under investigation by the patrol. The crash report does not indicate how the Impala got going the wrong way or how long it had been driving in the wrong lanes before crashing.

The Iowa State Patrol was assisted on the scene by the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, the Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office, the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, the Dyersville Police Department, the Manchester Police Department, the Earlville Fire Department, Earlville Ambulance, the Dyersville Fire Department, the Delaware County Medical Examiner and the Iowa Department of Transportation.

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