A three-vehicle wreck Thursday morning on the Kansas Turnpike near Lawrence stopped traffic for an hour and critically injured a Lenexa man who was ejected from his car.

David N. Sanford, 54, suffered head and internal injuries after he lost control of his Chevrolet four-door while trying to change lanes, officials said. His car flipped, hit a barrier wall and was struck by an eastbound 1995 International semitrailer.

Emergency workers tend to a victim of a three-vehicle wreck on the Kansas Turnpike near Lawrence. The wreck stopped traffic for an hour and critically injured a Lenexa man who was ejected from his car. The accident happened at 9:56 a.m. Thursday about a mile east of the East Lawrence turnpike exit. See story, page 2B.

Sanford was not wearing a seatbelt, according to an accident report. An air ambulance flew him to University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan. A condition report wasn’t available Thursday night.

The wreck happened at 9:56 a.m. about a mile east of the East Lawrence turnpike exit.

The driver of the semitrailer, identified as 48-year-old Philip L. Solinger of McCloud, Okla., was not injured. A third car, a 1998 Pontiac two-door driven by Andrew Morgan, 22, Manhattan, collided with debris from Sanford’s car, but Morgan was not injured.

Both eastbound lanes were closed for 56 minutes, officials said. At 10:52 a.m., one of the lanes reopened. Both lanes were open at 11:20 a.m.