Five people died in an accident in Ringgold County late Friday morning.
Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Nathan Ludwig says the accident happened around 11 a.m. at the corner of county highway P-27 and Highway 2 about four miles west of Mount Ayr.
“Right now it looks like there was a vehicle that was northbound on that county road that failed to stop at the stop sign. And in doing so, there was a rock truck or a utility type vehicle that was westbound on Highway 2 — and when that vehicle ran the stop sign it broadsided it — and both vehicles ended up in the northwest corner of that intersection,” according to Ludwig.
Ludwig says there were seven people in the SUV, and five of them, including two children, died in the accident. He says one other person is in critical condition, one was treated and released, and the driver of the rock truck was uninjured. The names of the victims have not yet been released.
Ludwig says the Iowa State Patrol is doing more work at the scene. “A technical investigation by the State Patrol to determine the speed of the vehicles and what not,” Ludwig says. “But right now I think they are still gathering some witness statements. Out in the country there wasn’t a lot of people who witnessed it, so we are still piecing things together.”
Ringgold County officials are helping with the investigation.
By Jordan Armstrong, KSIB, Creston