Spring storm claims two more lives

Three people died and two others were seriously hurt on the same highway a day earlier and about 100 miles to the south.

In Thursday's crash, the Nevada Highway Patrol said Ayyas Rashid, 24, of Grand Rapids, N.D., lost control of his car on the icy highway and slid into the path of an oncoming pickup driven by Spencer Porter, 31, of Elko.

Rashid and his passenger, Jotkiran Shahpuri, 23, of Grand Rapids were ejected from the car and were pronounced dead at the scene. Porter was taken to Magic Valley Regional Medical Center in Twin Falls, Idaho, with numerous injuries.

On Wednesday, a sports utility vehicle driven by Lynne Lyon, 33, of Carlin, was southbound on the highway about 40 miles south of Wells and slid across the median into an oncoming pickup driven by Raymond Bartlett, 64, of Seeley Lake, Mont.

Lyon and her 14-year-old daughter Michelle Pursifull were pronounced dead at the scene, as was Bartlett.

Elisabeth Pursifull, 12, and Marlene Bartlett, 62, were hospitalized in serious condition at Elko General Hospital.

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