Unsafe passing is to blame for an early morning Wednesday crash about six miles north of Pasco that sent two Othello women to the hospital, the Washington State Patrol reported.

Rosa I. Mendoza, 20, of Othello, was driving a 2003 Honda Accord south on Highway 295 behind a slow-moving semi-truck about 6:44 a.m., the state patrol said.

Another semi-truck, driven by Delores Gutierrez Lopez, 47, of Dinuba, Calif., was turning south onto Highway 395 from Phend Road when Mendoza pulled out from behind the slow-moving truck and attempted to pass it. She struck Gutierrez Lopez's 1997 Mack truck, the state patrol said.

Mendoza and her passenger, Alicia Mendoza, 31, of Othello, were taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland. Gutierrez Lopez was not injured, the state patrol reported.