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Teen thrown off bridge, killed when driver hits broken down SUV, Oregon cops say

Authorities are investigating a crash where a 17-year-old boy was killed in southern Oregon.
Authorities are investigating a crash where a 17-year-old boy was killed in southern Oregon. Getty Images/iStockphoto

A 17-year-old was thrown off a bridge and killed when a driver hit the disabled vehicle he was standing in front of in Oregon, troopers said.

The crash was reported at 2:54 p.m. May 17 on Highway 140 in Klamath County, Oregon State Police said in a news release.

The teen boy was a passenger in a Honda CRV driven by an 18-year-old woman, troopers said.

When the SUV broke down, he went to the front to “diagnose the failure,” officers said.

The SUV was partially blocking a lane, troopers said.

A 40-year-old driver in a Dodge Durango then struck their vehicle, sending the teen off the bridge and into the Klamath River where he died, troopers said.

Troopers said his body was recovered from the river.

The driver in the Dodge had minor injuries and was taken to a hospital, and the 18-year-old was not injured.

Troopers said they shut down the highway for four hours.

The investigation is ongoing.

Klamath County is southwestern Oregon.

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This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 10:12 AM with the headline "Teen thrown off bridge, killed when driver hits broken down SUV, Oregon cops say."

Helena Wegner
McClatchy DC
Helena Wegner is a McClatchy National Real-Time Reporter covering the state of Washington and the western region. She’s a journalism graduate from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She’s based in Phoenix.
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