A weekend crash in Dallas County that initially killed two people has resulted in the death of a third person.
The Iowa State Patrol says 25-year-old Kenneth Mueller of Urbandale died after the van he was driving struck the rear of a semi. He was wearing a seat belt. The accident happened at around 3:15 p.m. Sunday on Interstate 80 westbound at mile marker 115, about two miles east of the Van Meter exit.
Authorities say the semi, driven by 22-year-old Lovepreet S. Rattan, of Mississaugua, Ontario, Canada, had slowed and stopped for traffic ahead, that was at a standstill due to an accident just west of DeSoto. Mueller failed to reduce his speed prior to the collision. He died at the scene. The driver of the semi was not injured.
The accident that caused the traffic to back-up in the first place occurred at around 1:17 p.m. Sunday. The Patrol says a 1980 Chevy Corvette driven by 19-year-old Samuel Wayne Kasap entered westbound Interstate 80 from the DeSoto on-ramp and accelerated to a high rate of speed. The car went out of control and entered the median before rolling over the cable barrier and coming to rest in the eastbound lanes.
Neither Kasap nor his passenger, 24-year-old Maximilian Vincent Kasap, were wearing a seat belt. Both men were ejected. Samuel Kasap died at the scene. Max Kasap was injured and transported by Dallas County Rescue to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines.
(By Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic)