Tragedy struck on January 12 north of Ekalaka when a young female died in a rollover crash on Highway 7.

The 23-year-old was driving north, near mile marker 12, when she lost control of the car she was driving and struck a bridge railing. The vehicle went off the right side of the road and overturned. She was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene. There was no indication as to what caused her to lose control of the vehicle.

On Monday night a semi hauling hay went off the road and tipped over, less than a mile from the crash on January 12. That wreck resulted in delays on the highway Tuesday morning as a wrecker service worked to upright the truck and remove it from the scene.

The stretch of Highway 7 where both accidents occurred is straight, but characterized by narrow shoulders, often with steep drop-offs. It can be extremely dangerous at high speeds and when meeting other vehicles hauling wide loads.

There have been many incidents over the same stretch of road in recent years, including a semi that tipped over carrying a load of lumber about 12.5 miles north of Ekalaka in January of 2019, and another that was hauling around forty-two thousand pounds of beer to Sidney in December of 2019.