Editor’s note: Out of respect for the victims and families, we will not be releasing any unaltered photos from this accident scene. Doing otherwise serves no journalistic purpose.

OTHELLO – Two are dead and at five injured following a terrifying accident on SR-17 north of Othello on Wednesday afternoon.

The incident was reported around 3:30 on Wednesday afternoon. A 1998 Mercury Sable travelling southbound is reported to have been driving erratically near milepost 34 on SR17. That vehicle attempted to pass another, uninvolved vehicle in a no passing zone and struck a 2011 Ford Taurus that was travelling northbound.

The driver of the Mercury Sable, 28-year-old Cesar E Hernandez and his passenger, 20-year-old Angel M Valenzuela, both of Moses Lake, were deceased at the scene. Neither was wearing a seatbelt. Two passengers in the Mercury, 20-year-old Marissa A Garcia and 18-year-old Isela J Rivera-Salinas, both of Moses Lake, were injured and transported to Othello Community Hospital. Garcia was not wearing a seatbelt.

The driver of the Ford Taurus, 43-year-old Tiffany Adams and her passengers, 23-year-old Gavin Adams, and a 14-year-old girl were all wearing seatbelts. All three are from Othello. They were all transported to Othello Community Hospital. Their condition is not known at this time.

Washington State Patrol reports at least one victim may have been airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Multiple agencies responded to the scene including Washington State Patrol, Adams County Fire District 5, Othello Police Department, Grant County Fire, Adams County Sheriff’s Office, and Warden Police Department. An ambulance was also dispatched from Lifeline, while two Othello EMS ambulances made multiple return trips to the scene. Upon arrival, Othello EMS decared the scene a “mass casualty event.”

It is not known if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the accident.