Two seriously injured in I-70 rollover accident

A 21-year-old Topeka woman and a 22-year-old Holton man were seriously injured and taken to Kansas University Hospital early Thursday morning after a rollover accident in the eastbound lanes of I-70 near exit 202 in Lawrence, according the Kansas Turnpike Authority.

Two vehicles were involved in the crash, which happened just before 2 a.m. near mile marker 201.2 and drew a response from Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical. The injured people were the female driver and the male passenger of a 2007 Chevy passenger vehicle that rear-ended a 2012 Ford pickup truck. The occupants of the Ford were not injured.

The driver and passenger in the Chevy were injured when the car struck a wall, overturned and came to rest on its top.

A LifeStar helicopter was called in to transfer the injured driver to the hospital. The helicopter used the parking lot at the Hallmark Lawrence Production Center, 101 McDonald Drive, as a landing area.

The victims were reported by authorities to have suffered serious but not immediately life-threatening injuries, according to Lawrence Journal-World partner Operation 100 News. The passenger suffered a broken leg and the driver, who was transported by LifeStar, suffered a head injury.

The victims’ identities and other details of the crash were not immediately available. The Kansas Highway Patrol is investigating the incident.