GARDINER — A 17-year-old Burien girl died Sunday afternoon when the van in which she was riding ran off a wet U.S. Highway 101 and slammed into a tree.
The teenager was a front-seat passenger in a 1997 Ford Aerostar that was westbound on the highway, the State Patrol reported.
Erica J. Enns was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver, Jacob A. Anderson, 19, of SeaTac, was taken by ambulance to Jefferson Healthcare hospital in Port Townsend with neck and back injuries.
The crash occurred shortly after 3 p.m. at milepost 278, four miles west of Discovery Bay.
“This is the second week in a row that we”ve had a young adult die in a traffic-related collision,” said Trooper Brian George, the patrol’s public information officer.
Early on April 2, Hailey Haller, 17, of Port Angeles died when the 2001 Lexus she was driving struck the pillar of a billboard on Highway 101 just east of Mount Pleasant Road in east Port Angeles.
The car exploded and split in two, setting fire to the billboard.