WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Update: The Kansas Highway Patrol identified the man killed in Friday afternoon’s crash on K-42 near Viola as 44-year-old Eugene Judson Theodore Stumblingbear, of Attica.
Stumblingbear died after his 2010 Buick Lacrosse, traveling east in the westbound lanes of K-42, hit a westbound semi, head-on, the KHP report said.
One person is dead following a crash near Viola. Sedgwick County dispatchers confirm the crash, reported about 1:30 p.m., happened near 279th and K-42 and involves a semi and a passenger vehicle.
Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Caden Whetzel said this was a head-on crash involving a semi traveling west and a passenger vehicle that was traveling east before moving into the westbound lane, into the semi’s path.
Trooper Whetzel said it was unclear why the car changed lanes. The car’s driver died at the scene. The semi driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, the trooper said.
Whetzel said the stretch of two-lane highway near Viola would likely be closed for a few hours as investigators worked to confirm details into what led up to the crash.
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