Four people were injured, including one victim trapped in the wreckage in extremely critical condition in a traffic accident to the northwest of Maize.
At about 4:40 a.m. Tuesday, a Chevy Silverado pickup truck driven by 81-year-old Stephen Eilert of Sedgwick was on 151st Street West, and performed a U-turn across the east-bound lanes of Highway K-96. That's when an east-bound Jeep Commander hit the pickup.
Following the initial collision, the Silverado continued east on the highway “for a short distance” before a second crash, in which a Dodge Ram pickup collided with the original truck that was disabled in the roadway.
The crashes prompted the closure of east-bound K-96 between 151st and 167th streets West, the road between Colwich & Bentley.
An occupant of the Silverado, 80-year-old Saundra Eilert, was also injured; the Eilerts were taken to St., Francis hospital in Wichita.
Two occupants of the Jeep were hospitalized at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita: 56-year-old Jennifer Dokken of Wichita, and 37-year-old Michael Jacobson of Hutchinson.
