photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

A Douglas County Sheriff's Office vehicle is pictured in January 2022.

A 48-year-old Lawrence man was killed in a car crash Wednesday night in southern Lawrence, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

Shortly after 10:30 p.m., sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a head-on collision in the 600 block of East 31st Street. When they arrived, a Dodge Ram pickup truck was fully engulfed in flames. All three occupants of the Dodge had been removed before it ignited, according to George Diepenbrock, a sheriff’s office spokesman. The driver of the other vehicle, a Chevrolet Malibu, was dead by the time deputies arrived. A preliminary investigation indicates that the driver of the Malibu crossed the center line and struck the Dodge pickup truck head on, Diepenbrock said. The driver, whom Diepenbrock did not identify, was the sole occupant of the Malibu.

The three occupants of the Dodge truck were all 19-year-old men. One was taken to LMH Health with injuries not believed to be life threatening. The other two had serious injuries; one was taken to Overland Park Regional Medical Center, and one was taken by helicopter ambulance to the University of Kansas hospital.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Accident Reconstruction Team is conducting a full investigation of the crash, Diepenbrock said.