A four-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 30 in Clatsop County, Oregon, killed one driver and injured 13 Oregon National Guard members as they rode home from a weekend training exercise, according to the Oregon Public Broadcasting and Oregon State Police accounts of the wreck.

The crash happened around 8:56 p.m. Saturday near milepost 85, roughly between Astoria and Clatskanie. Investigators say a westbound Ford Ranger pickup crossed the center line into oncoming traffic, sideswiped a Ram 1500, then struck an eastbound passenger van carrying 11 guardsmen. A second pickup traveling behind the van couldn't stop in time and hit both the van and the oncoming truck, according to KATU's reporting on the state police investigation.

Seventeen People, One Mass-Casualty Scene

In all, 17 people were caught up in the wreck, prompting a mass-casualty response from multiple regional fire, EMS and law enforcement agencies, and shutting down the highway for roughly four hours. The Ford Ranger's driver, 65-year-old Markham Marshall Stangland of Warrenton, was pronounced dead at the scene; investigators believe he was not wearing a seatbelt.

All 13 guard members aboard the van, including the driver, were taken to area hospitals. State police identified the van's driver as 21-year-old Spc. Haiden Cunningham of Milwaukie, who suffered serious injuries. As of Monday afternoon, three guard members remained hospitalized, per KOIN's update on the soldiers' conditions. The drivers of the other two pickups were treated for minor injuries.

The soldiers were returning to the Clackamas area after training at Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center near Warrenton, a joint Army and Air National Guard installation on the Oregon coast that hosts regular weekend drills for units across the state.

"THIS WAS A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT RESULTING IN AN INDIVIDUAL'S DEATH AND MULTIPLE INJURIES TO ALL INVOLVED, TO INCLUDE 13 OREGON NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS." — LT. COL. STEPHEN BOMAR, OREGON MILITARY DEPARTMENT

Oregon State Police, which is leading the investigation, has not yet released a cause for why the pickup crossed into oncoming lanes, and no charges had been announced as of the latest reporting. The agency said the probe remains active, and further details on the driver's condition and any contributing factors — including speed, road conditions or medical impairment — are expected as troopers complete their reconstruction of the crash. The Oregon Military Department said it is supporting the recovering guardsmen and their families while the highway safety review continues.