Fatal accident snarls traffic in Maricopa Arizona

A fatal two-vehicle accident on Interstate 10, just north of Riggs Road, closed the freeway and forced eastbound I-10 traffic onto southbound Maricopa Road Saturday evening.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety responded to the accident around 1:30 pm. The driver of a white 2000 Nissan Pathfinder traveling westbound on I-10, just west of Riggs, lost control of his vehicle for an unknown reason, then traveled through the center median into the eastbound lanes colliding with a blue 2008 Honda CRV which was traveling eastbound. The Pathfinder then rolled over onto the dirt beside the road. The CRV remained upright.
The driver of the CRV, 46 year-old Gina Lucille Harrah of Fountain Hills, her passenger, 71 year-old Phyllis Anderson of Bigfork, Montana, and the driver of the Pathfinder, 57 year-old David Russel Fry of Ajo, were all injured and transported to local hospitals. The passenger in the Pathfinder, 57 year-old Della Margaret Mays of Tucson, died on scene.

The right lane of eastbound I-10 was closed from the time of the collision until around 5:30 pm. At that time, all traffic was routed off the freeway and onto SR347 (Maricopa Road), then south to Riggs Road and back to I-10. Northbound Maricopa traffic was backed up over a mile at Riggs due to the high volume of southbound vehicles turning left. Arizona DPS and Gila River Police were directing traffic along SR347 at the I-10, (old) Maricopa Road, and Riggs Road intersections.