Most occupants of rollover crash outside of Ritzville that killed one were not wearing seat belts

One woman died and eight other people were injured Saturday afternoon in a vehicle rollover crash on U.S. Highway 395 just outside of Ritzville.

Of the nine occupants, one passenger wore a seat belt.

Cassandra Wesley Hall, 34, of Wapato, Washington, died at the scene after the GMC Yukon she was driving rolled into the center median. She was not wearing a seat belt.

Most passengers were transported to Sacred Heart. Henry Beavert, 37, of Toppenish, Washington, was transported to East Adams in Ritzville.

Oscar Kahclamat, 35, of Wapato, was among those injured.

WSP has not released the ages of the other six occupants.

Wesley Hall and eight others were traveling north, a mile away from Ritzville at around 3:40 p.m. Saturday. She was driving too fast for road conditions, according to a WSP news release. Drugs or alcohol weren’t involved in the crash, the release read.

Ritzville saw near constant precipitation from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, National Weather Service Meteorologist Daniel Butler said. Temperatures hovered around 29 degrees that day, causing the precipitation to freeze on the roadways.

Butler advised drivers should slow down in freezing rain conditions, as it’s hard to stop quickly. To help avoid uncontrollable slides, drivers shouldn’t use cruise control in these conditions, Butler said.