GARDEN CITY – An investigation into a fatal crash earlier this month in Garden City has found that inexperience in driving through mountainous terrain was the contributing factor to the wreck. On October 10th, a semi-truck slammed into the Pugstone’s Sporting Goods store in Raspberry Square, resulting in the death of 31-year-old Ahmed M. Abdelgader of Omaha, Nebraska. The crash happened at approximately 6:30 p.m. and nobody was inside the building at the time.
According to the Associated Press, preliminary findings by the Utah Department of Public Safety said the brakes of the MA Logistics truck driven by Abdelgader overheated and that the truck drove erratically down U.S. 89 out of Logan Canyon before going through the T-intersection with SR-30 and slamming into the sporting goods store. The findings suggest that Abdelgader was unfamiliar with how to properly handle a truck through mountains with steep grades.
A passenger, 31-year-old Mobark A. Sharif, was reportedly in the sleeper of the truck when the crash occurred. The Fort Wayne, Indiana man was also transported to Cache Valley Hospital but then flown to McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden where he reportedly remains hospitalized in serious condition.
The Kenworth semi-truck was hauling a load of butter.
So why would a trucking company send an inexperienced truck driver through Logan Canyon? I’m sure their insurance company will now make sure they have better training.