A stop to grab fallen cargo turns serious on the Seward Highway

A man stopped on the Seward Highway to pick up items that had fallen from his pickup — an ordinary moment on a busy road — when a passing vehicle struck him, seriously injuring both him and the driver.

The crash happened around 12:49 p.m. on July 2 near Summit Lake, at Mile 43. Troopers say the man, an adult, was out of his truck gathering fallen items when a southbound vehicle hit him.

Both he and the woman driving were hurt badly enough to be flown to Anchorage-area hospitals — the medevac helicopters landing on the highway itself, which shut the road down for about 45 minutes.

The investigation is ongoing.