Two people were killed and two others injured last night during a traffic accident near Walnut, in western Iowa’s Pottawattamie County. All of the victims were from Avoca. According to Pottawattamie County Chief Deputy Jim Matthei, the driver of the vehicle was identified as 20-year old Derek Kardell.
Matthei says the car was traveling south and failed to stop as it approached the T-intersection with Highway 83. The vehicle crossed the intersection and went into the ditch on the south side of the highway. Kardell, the driver, was injured during the crash and taken by helicopter to an Omaha hospital.
A front seat passenger in the vehicle, 21-year-old Ross Pattee, was injured and taken to the hospital in Harlan. A report on their conditions is not available. Two back seat passengers, Brandy Burns and Christina Laws — both of whom were 26 years old, were pronounced dead at the scene. Matthei says alcohol appears to have played a role in the crash which occurred shortly after 10 p.m., about one and a-half miles west of Walnut.