Six people were taken to the hospital by ambulance Sunday after the sports utility vehicle they were in crashed with a water-hauling truck west of Ignacio on County Road 318.
The accident happened at about 10 a.m. Sunday just west of County Road 309, said Tom Aurnhammer, deputy fire chief for Los Pinos Fire Protection District.
Family members were taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center were they were treated and later released, hospital spokesman David Bruzzese said.
Mike Shorty, the driver of the water truck, said he was heading west on 318 when he came over a hill and saw the SUV, pulling a U-Haul trailer, stopped in the road to make a left-hand turn.
Shorty said he swerved left to miss the SUV, a Chevrolet Suburban, just as it started to turn. Both vehicles went off the road and ran into a thicket of trees.Shorty said another water truck was behind him, and he swerved to avoid a piled-up.
Chris Howlett, a relative of the family's, said he came out to the scene as soon as he heard about it. He said his grandmother, along with his cousin, her three daughters and her boyfriend were in the SUV and had been turning into his aunt and uncle's driveway when the crash happened.
He said his cousin's 11-year-old daughter had been thrown out the back window, which was shattered.
Howlett said his cousin's family had just moved to the area from Arizona.
The accident investigation was being handled by the Southern Ute Tribal Police; an official on scene declined to provide details.
Shorty said he was going about 45 mph when he came over the hill and saw the stopped U-Haul.
Traffic on 318 was closed for about 10 minutes and was down to one lane for a couple hours after the accident.
