The McKinley County Sheriff's Office says 41-year-old Anas Adi, a father of eight from Albuquerque, was killed when he was thrown from a minivan in a crash on Interstate 40 near Gallup, The Associated Press is reporting.

Deputies blamed the crash on an elk that wandered onto the freeway, the AP said.

Sheriff's Sgt. Tom Mumford said the van's teenage driver tried to avoid hitting the elk, but hit it anyway, sending the van into a skid and a rollover, the AP reported.

Sheriff's officers said the man was pronounced dead at the scene Sunday afternoon.