Woman rescued after spending night in wrecked U-Haul following southwest Colorado River accident

SAN MIGUEL COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) – A woman is expected to survive after spending the night in a wrecked U-Haul that crashed into a river west of Telluride.

The San Miguel Sheriff's Office said the victim was traveling on Highway 145 Monday night when she left the road and fell down a hill, sending half of the U-Haul into the San Miguel River. She was trapped inside the vehicle and remained there until nearly 12 hours later, according to the sheriff's office, when a passerby noticed the accident and called 911.

“Sheriff's deputies, San Miguel County Search and Rescue, Telluride Fire Department, Norwood Fire Department, Colorado State Patrol, Colorado Department of Transportation and Careflight out of Montrose were all on scene,” the sheriff's office said.

Rescue teams used ropes to reach the woman and free her from the vehicle. The operation took about three hours. She was then immediately flown by helicopter to a hospital in Grand Junction. Her injuries were described as serious but not life-threatening.

The sheriff's office said it had not yet determined what caused the accident or found any further details about the incident. “Emergency responders were focused on safely extricating the patient and getting her to the Careflight helicopter for transport for definitive treatment.”

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