Thirty-six crashes on I-40 westbound between Tucumcari and Santa Rosa Saturday morning claim the life of one person and leave 6 others injured. State Police blame the ice and snow on the roadway. They later determined that the pileup included 29 non-injury crashes, six injury crashed, and the one fatal crash. The accidents had I-40 westbound closed from Tucumcari to Santa Rosa for nearly 12 hours.
Another fatal Sunday morning south of Portales killed 45-year-old driver Stephen Rooney of Portales. State Police say he hit ice and lost control. The vehicle slammed into a tree. Rooney died at the scene.
