ROYAL CITY — Two people died and two others were injured in a collision near Royal City Monday.

Names of the those involved were not released by press time Monday because family members were still being notified.

The collision, which occurred at the intersection of Road 11 Southwest and Road G Southwest, was investigated by the Grant County Sheriff’s Motor Traffic Unit. The intersection was closed for several hours, with motorists encouraged to take alternate routes, according to the sheriff’s office.

Two people died in the collision and two others were injured. One of the injured people was transported to Samaritan Healthcare in Moses Lake via ambulance for treatment. The other injured person was airlifted via LifeFlight helicopter to Kadlec Medical Center in Richland for treatment. Three other people who were involved in the collision declined medical treatment.

“I want to express my deepest sympathies to the families of those persons killed today,” Sheriff Tom Jones said. “We’ve had some serious collisions recently and I hope motorists will take extra care when driving.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.