Fairbanks woman killed in rollover near Healy

A driver swerving to avoid a moose crashed her truck early today near Healy, and troopers say the passenger -- who wasn't wearing a seat belt -- was ejected and killed.

It's the second fatal crash in recent months on the same stretch of highway in which a passenger who wasn't buckled up was killed.

Today's crash happened around 5 a.m. at Mile 262. Margaret Stone, 51, of Fairbanks, was driving her 2004 Ford F-150 pickup truck southbound on the Parks Highway, Alaska State Troopers said. A friend, Diane Schultz, 45, also of Fairbanks, was in the passenger seat.

Stone told troopers that a moose ran in front of her truck. She avoided hitting the moose but the truck went into a skid, troopers said. She crashed into a ditch and the truck rolled several times.

Schultz was ejected out a window and landed in the snow near where the truck came to rest, troopers said.

Healy medics pronounced her dead at the scene.

Stone, who was wearing a seat belt, also was hurt but her injuries aren't life-threatening, troopers said. She was taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. The truck's airbags did not deploy.

The Alaska Bureau of Highway Patrol is investigating the wreck.

In November, Jeromey Ramage, 18, of North Pole, was critically injured when he was ejected in a crash at Mile 252 of the Parks Highway and died a few days later. He also wasn't wearing a seat belt, troopers say. The driver lost control on the icy highway, and the vehicle crashed and rolled repeatedly, troopers said.

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