MARK SMITH / PVT Mercy Air lifts off from the scene of a one-vehicle accident Sunday as visitors exiting Death Valley wait for Highway 190 to re-open. Advertisement

DEATH VALLEY JUNCTION, Calif. -- A one-vehicle accident that blocked California Highway 190 west of this village Sunday afternoon left five men and women suffering apparently minor injuries, even though none was wearing a seatbelt.

The driver and his passengers were all from Cape Coral and Fort Myers Beach, Fla., according to the California Highway Patrol. They ranged in age from a 12-year-old male to a 56-year-old woman.

The driver, identified only as a Mr. Southwick, reported that he was traveling east on the highway when he heard what sounded like a tire going flat.

He applied the brakes and turned to the right to leave the pavement, but the turn and the braking combined to send the 2008 Jeep into a clockwise skid down a four-foot embankment and into a rollover.

A pregnant 23-year-old complained of pain in one knee. She and the 56-year-old woman, who reported pain in her ribs, were medevacked out by Mercy Air out of Pahrump to University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

Another passenger, a 49-year-old female, was transported to the hospital by ambulance with a pain in her neck.

Southwick said he was traveling at about 50 mph when the accident took place. A Highway Patrol spokeswoman said alcohol was not involved.