Two people died and another three were injured in a head-on collision on the Seward Highway early Saturday morning, troopers revealed.

Troopers reported that they responded to the scene of the collision at mile 53.8 of the Seward Highway, just south of Hope Junction at 7:15 am on Saturday. Upon their arrival, they found that two individuals, 37-year-old Presence Bissonette of Seward, and 42-year-old Kaying Lee, of Anchorage, deceased at the scene.

The investigation at the scene, which encompassed several hours, determined that as 47-year-old Neng Thao was driving south on the highway, he lost control on the icy roads and crossed over the center line of the highway and collided with Presence Bissonette as she and her passenger, Lee were traveling northbound.

While Bissonette and her passenger, Lee, died at the scene, Thao and two passengers in his vehicle, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and were transported to Providence Alaska medical Center via LifeMed helicopter and ambulance.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]Bissonette’s and Lee’s next of kin were notified of the incident.

Both lanes of the highway were closed until 11:10 am, and fully reopened at 12:30 pm.

The investigation into the crash is continuing.

  Anchorage, collision, crash, fatalities, highway, injuries, kaying lee, neng thao, presence bissonette, seward