Parents, infant among 4 killed in head-on collision near Perry

Three adults and one infant were killed in a two-vehicle collision on U.S. Highway 24 about a mile west of Perry on Sunday afternoon.

At 3:20 p.m. Sunday, a Ford Ranger pickup truck and a Ford Windstar minivan collided head-on, according to a report from the Kansas Highway Patrol. The driver of the Ranger, Ronald D. Heston, 56, of Oskaloosa, died at the scene. In the Windstar, three members of a family of five — Travis D. Askew, 35; Ashley A. Askew, 27; and Haley R. Askew, 6 months, all of Basehor — were killed.

According to the report, Heston’s vehicle left the roadway onto the north shoulder and overcorrected; it then traveled back across the roadway and into the eastbound lanes, striking the Windstar head-on at milepost 381.8 on US-24.

Ashley Askew was not wearing a seatbelt, according to the accident report.

The other two children in the Windstar — Lilly Askew, 3, and Linda J. Askew, 5 — were in critical condition and taken to Stormont-Vail Hospital in Topeka, according to the KHP report. Jefferson County Sheriff Jeffrey Herrig said he believed one of the children was taken by helicopter and the other was transported by ground ambulance.

Emergency responders found one of the vehicles on fire when they arrived at the scene, said Casey Quigley, fire chief of Perry and Kentucky Township in Jefferson County.

Eastbound and westbound lanes of US-24 at Thompsonville Road west of Perry were closed to traffic for several hours following the accident but reopened around 8 p.m. Sunday.