Truck driver tests sober after Seward Highway crash

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- A truck driver involved in a wreck on the Seward Highway that killed five people in a prison van had not been drinking before the crash, Alaska State Troopers said.

Testing was negative for alcohol in truck driver Michael Longan, 42, said troopers Sgt. Barry Wilson, who is leading the investigation. There also was no indication that the correctional officer driving the state van, James Hesterberg, had been drinking, Wilson said, though troopers didn't have test results on him yet.

Investigators are still waiting for the results of drug tests on Longan, which will take about three more weeks, the sergeant said. A sample was sent out of state for testing.

Troopers expect to have findings on what caused the Nov. 19 crash in about two weeks, based on witness interviews, evidence gathered from the scene, and an assessment of damage to the vehicles, Wilson said.

Longan was traveling north and the prison van was headed south when the two collided about 20 miles from Seward in a snow squall. Hesterberg and four inmates en route to Spring Creek Correctional Center died.