SUV plunges into icy Okla. river; killing 3
MIAMI, OK
The accident happened at about 6:30 a.m., less than nine hours
after one of two westbound lanes of Interstate 44 was reopened for
traffic. The highway was rendered impassable Tuesday night by the
powerful blizzard that barreled through Oklahoma and much of the
nation, and hundreds of stranded motorists had to be helped to
safety.
Two people were pronounced dead shortly after the accident and a
third died later at a hospital, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. George
Brown said. The five others were treated at hospitals in Joplin,
Mo.
Television footage showed the large vehicle resting upright and
partially submerged in the Spring River. A rescuer said the water
there was only waist-deep, but Brown said hypothermia would have
quickly set in.
"This is a fall of 80 feet or better ... that alone is a very
dangerous type of crash. This is a very traumatic crash," Brown
said.
More than 20 inches of snow had fallen in the area and the air
temperature Thursday morning was minus-11 degrees, making the
rescue operation difficult.
Motorists who witnessed the accident said they peered over the
side of the bridge and spotted six people outside of the truck in
the icy water and two others inside the vehicle, Brown said.
The rescue teams got a small boat, hoisted it down in the water
and started the recovery," Brown said. "The ground temperature
was 11 degrees below zero, so it would take only a second to become
hypothermic in this water and ice."
Grady Weston, the assistant chief of the Newton County (Mo.)
Rescue and Recovery squad, said the SUV had broken through ice and
was half-submerged when his crews arrived. "Three of us waded out
into the river ... and helped get the last three or four out,"
Weston said.
Authorities declined to release most of the victims' names or
say where they live. A decal reading "Enrique" was emblazoned on
the top of the truck's windshield.
The plows that cleared the four-lane highway's outside lanes
pushed the snow up against the outside guardrails, and that snow
acted as a ramp when the SUV hit it, Ottawa County Sheriff Terry
Durborow said.
"She hit that and just went airborne," the sheriff said. "I
don't know if she lost control of her vehicle or not. She just
jumped the guard rail off that bridge."
"It's probably the worst conditions I've seen, and I've lived
here all my life," Durborow said.
Three survivors were listed in serious condition at the St.
John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, according to David
Morris, the hospital's director of marketing. The Freeman Health
Center at Joplin received three survivors, as well, according to
spokeswoman Christen Stark. She said one of the three men, Julio
Garcia, was in fair condition, but she declined to say how the
other two were fairing.
Brown declined to speculate about whether the highway may have
been re-opened prematurely, given the persisting dangerous
conditions.