Spearville

Three killed in highway crash

Two young women and a 5-year-old girl died Sunday after their van pulled in front of a tractor-trailer in southwest Kansas.

All seven occupants of the 1989 Dodge van were ejected when the driver pulled onto U.S. Highway 50 near Spearville and was struck by the truck, the Kansas Highway Patrol said. The accident happened around 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

Neither the van’s driver, 27-year-old Jimmie Holt, of Minneola, nor any of the passengers were wearing seat belts, the Highway Patrol said.

Killed in the accident were 2-year-old Jinnie Holt and 20-year-old Amber Dimitt, both of Minneola, and 19-year-old Dustin Kipp, of Cimarron.

The four others in the van — including an 11-month-old boy and a 5-year-old girl — were injured and hospitalized.

The truck driver, who was wearing a seat belt, was not injured.

Newton

Three-year-old drowns while fishing

A 3-year-old Newton boy apparently fell from a dock at Harvey County East Lake on Sunday and drowned.

The boy, who was not identified, was fishing with an 11-year-old sibling around 3:15 p.m. when their mother called for them to come inside the family’s camping trailer, said Harvey County Sheriff Byron Motter.

The 3-year-old continued to fish, however. When the 11-year-old came back to find him, he was gone, Motter said.

Police and nearby campers began searching for the boy both on land and in the water.

After two hours, divers found the boy’s body underwater and 20 to 25 feet away from the dock. Motter said an autopsy would be performed.