The holiday weekend was not without the loss of life on South Dakota roads as three people died in two different crashes.

Just after sunrise on Sunday, July 3, one person died and another person was injured in a one-vehicle crash early Sunday morning east of Murdo.

The South Dakota’s Highway Patrol was called to just east of Murdo Sunday at 6:12 AM where a Ford Edge SUV was westbound on Interstate 90 when it left the roadway to the left, went into the ditch, and eventually rolled.

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Tony Mangan of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety reports that the 20-year-old female passenger was thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Her seat belt use is under investigation. The 21-year-old male driver, wearing a seat belt, sustained serious non-life-threatening injuries. He was transported by ambulance to the Pierre hospital.

Then a short time later another crash on U.S. Highway 18 occurred when a Ford F-150 pickup was westbound when it crossed the centerline and collided head-on with an eastbound GMC Sierra 3500 pickup pulling a cattle trailer.

In a release by Mangan, two of the occupants in the GMC pickup died due to their injuries. A 40-year-old female passenger died at the Winner hospital while a 14-year-old male passenger was pronounced dead at the Gregory hospital. The 45-year-old male driver suffered life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to a Sioux Falls hospital.

All three occupants were wearing seat belts.

Three of the four occupants of the Ford pickup sustained serious non-life-threatening injuries and all three were transported to Sioux Falls hospitals. All but the female passenger were wearing seat belts. Charges are pending against the driver.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol is investigating both crashes.

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