1 dead, 2 critical after crash in service area

One person is dead and two are critically injured after their SUV plowed into two 18-wheelers parked in a service area along the Kansas Turnpike south of Wichita.

The Highway Patrol said the Chevy Blazer was traveling at a high rate of speed about 11 p.m. Thursday when it took the exit ramp into the Belle Plaine service area and rear-ended the trucks.

Troopers say 27-year-old Christopher Cole of Ponca City, Okla., was pronounced dead at the scene.

Forty-year-old Rusty Anderson and 28-year-old Ellen Remy, both of Ponca City, were rushed to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.