2 killed in collision with dump truck near Walford

A man and a woman were killed Wednesday after crashing into an oncoming dump truck after fleeing from a Linn County deputy on Highway 151 north of Walford.

The Linn County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release it received a domestic disturbance report just after noon involving a blue Nissan Altima with a male driver and a female passenger who was trying to jump out of the car.

A deputy located the car driving south on 80th Street at about 12:23 p.m. and saw a woman passenger was in the car.

The deputy activated the squad car’s emergency lights and attempted to stop the vehicle.

When the driver failed to stop, the deputy determined the driver was driving too recklessly and stopped the pursuit near the Highway 151 intersection with Wright Brothers Boulevard, the news release stated.

About a minute later, the deputy noticed flying debris from what appeared to be a collision, the sheriff’s office told The Gazette.

The crash happened when the driver lost control and the car moved into the oncoming lane, crashing almost head-on with a Kenworth dump truck near 300 Highway 151 on the outskirts of Walford.

Both the driver and passenger were ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. The dump truck driver was not injured.

Names are not being released at this time pending notification of relatives. The Iowa State Patrol is investigating the crash.

A portion of Highway 151 was closed after the crash but reopened just after 4 p.m., the sheriff’s office tweeted.

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