State Police says a 17-year-old female juvenile from Flora crossed the centerline while traveling westbound on US 50 east of Salem and crashed into an SUV drive by a Centralia woman.
Both the 17-year-old and the driver of the SUV, 30-year-old Courtney Evilsizer of West 14th in Centralia, were airlifted to St. Louis Hospitals for treatment of serious injuries. Four passengers in the Evilsizer vehicle were also injured. An eight-year-old girl was airlifted to a regional hospital. 36-year-old Joe Evilsizer of Centralia, as well as a nine-year-old and five-year-old girl from Centralia were transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
State Police say it is not known why the 16-year-old crossed the centerline. The driver’s side front panels of the two vehicles took the impact of the crash.
The juvenile was ticketed for failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash, improper lane usage and operating an uninsured vehicle.
Two of those in the vehicles had to be extricated by Iuka and Salem Firemen. The crash occurred between the Kinmundy and Metcalf Roads at seven pm. The cleanup and crash investigation closed US 50 for a few hours.
