A person was killed and two others were injured Tuesday in an accident involving a wrong-way driver south of Winfield on U.S. 77 highway.
Cowley County Sheriff David Falletti said deputies had been alerted to the report of a driver in a truck going northbound in the southbound lanes of the highway. They were on their way to the area to help control traffic when the accident occurred.
A 2002 Dodge Dakota collided with a 2014 GMC Acadia near 77 and Country Club rd. The male driver of the pickup, identified as 91-year-old Walter J. Thurman, of Ark City, was dead at the scene, Falletti said. 32 year-old Alexis J. Smith, of Ark City, and her 5-year-old child were in the Acadia and were transported to the hospital in Winfield for treatment.
Updates on their conditions were not immediately available, however, the sheriff’s department described their injuries as “severe.”
The Cowley County coroner has ordered an autopsy for Thurman “due to the nature of the accident,” according to statement released by the sheriff.
A driver in the area just before the accident told Cowley Post they had to make an quick maneuver to avoid the truck that was going the wrong direction.
The accident occurred just before 10 a.m.
