Four Minnesotans traveling with a church group die in a chain reaction vehicle accident in Utah

Four Twin Cities residents traveling with a church group, including a pregnant woman, are dead after a four-vehicle crash in central Utah.

According to the Utah Highway Patrol, the chain-reaction crash that occurred Thursday near the town of Price also killed a Utah resident driving an SUV.

The incident began when an SUV swerved into the path of a truck pulling two trailers. The truck driver swerved to avoid the SUV but lost control, crossed the median and crashed into a Nissan Rogue traveling in the oncoming lane.

The people in the Nissan were two couples from the Twin Cities, and all four died in the crash, said Sgt. Chris Pugliese of the Utah Highway Patrol.

“It was a very violent accident,” he said.

The victims were Sang Her, 56, and Lee Thao, 38, both of Brooklyn Center, and Bee Moua, 26, and Mai Lor, 25, both of St. Paul. One of the two women killed was pregnant, Pugliese said.

KSL-TV in Salt Lake City reported that Lor was pregnant and that she and Moua were married earlier this year.

The four Minnesotans were traveling with a church group that was in another car and escaped the accident. Members of the church group told authorities that the four victims were traveling from Moab to Salt Lake City. Pugliese said they planned to fly back to the Twin Cities that night.