Mini
02-01-2004, 02:51 PM
PRATT, Kansas (AP) -- Freezing drizzle coated Kansas roads with ice Saturday, playing a role in a crash that left five people dead and another wreck that closed a section of Interstate 70 for hours.
The fatal crash occurred about 6 p.m. on U.S. 54 west of Pratt when an automobile hit a patch of ice and slid into the path of a tractor-trailer, according to Pratt County Sheriff Vernon Chinn.
The victims, all inside the automobile, were not immediately identified. The rig's driver was not hurt.
Both lanes of traffic on Interstate 70 near the Junction City exit were closed for more than four hours after two tractor-trailers collided and diesel fuel from one of the rigs spilled. Traffic was rerouted until the interstate reopened about 6:30 p.m.
By late Saturday, the Kansas Highway Patrol had received several reports of motorists sliding off roads, rolling their vehicles and hitting guardrails. Most of the accidents were minor.
Pratt is in the south-central part of the state; Junction City is in north-central Kansas.
The fatal crash occurred about 6 p.m. on U.S. 54 west of Pratt when an automobile hit a patch of ice and slid into the path of a tractor-trailer, according to Pratt County Sheriff Vernon Chinn.
The victims, all inside the automobile, were not immediately identified. The rig's driver was not hurt.
Both lanes of traffic on Interstate 70 near the Junction City exit were closed for more than four hours after two tractor-trailers collided and diesel fuel from one of the rigs spilled. Traffic was rerouted until the interstate reopened about 6:30 p.m.
By late Saturday, the Kansas Highway Patrol had received several reports of motorists sliding off roads, rolling their vehicles and hitting guardrails. Most of the accidents were minor.
Pratt is in the south-central part of the state; Junction City is in north-central Kansas.