Worker jumps over bridge to avoid crash

ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- A construction worker from Wapato leaped over the side of a bridge to avoid being hit Monday afternoon during a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 90, authorities said.

The worker, 33-year-old Ryan Delorme, was treated at Kittitas Valley Community Hospital in Ellensburg for scrapes to his wrist and right arm, the Washington State Patrol reported.

About 2:15 p.m., Delorme was walking in the closed left eastbound lane when he saw the crash developing about three miles west of Ellensburg. He leaped over the bridge railing and hung on until help arrived, troopers said.

Troopers said a Ford Econoline and a Ford F-150 were slowing to merge lanes in a construction zone when a tractor-trailor combination hit the back of the pickup, pushing it into the van.

None of the occupants reported serious injuries.

The semi driver, 53-year-old Robert L. Cook of Powell Butte, Ore., was expected to receive a ticket for following too closely, troopers said.

None of the drivers was intoxicated, authorities said, and all but one of the motorists was wearing a seat belt.