OTTUMWA, IA : Serious accident closes Highway 63 on Wednesday, January 4th 2017

At least four people have been transported to the hospital following a serious car accident.

Though reported as a “multi-vehicle” crash around 3 p.m., only one car, badly damaged, was immediately visible to traffic stopped on Highway 63 South at Mary Street.

The second car, a white SUV, had rolled down the steep embankment next to the northbound lane of Highway 63, where it meets Rabbit Run Road. One side of the roof was partially collapsed, though the vehicle was upright. Rescue personal were bringing the last occupant out, on a stretcher, up the embankment to the roadway. A witness said that was the second person brought up. There had also been a baby in the SUV. Police said from what they can tell, someone, possibly a witness to the crash, stopped and brought the infant from the wrecked SUV into their own car, waiting for authorities to arrive.

The passenger vehicle still in the intersection had at least two occupants. Though police had no identification for anyone involved, the two in the car appeared to be an older couple. They waited, with firefighters talking to them, while the people in the SUV were extricated and transported; the next ambulance checked on the infant.

The last ambulance came for the couple and evacuated them around 30 minutes after the accident occurred.

Police shut down traffic in both directions of Highway 63 for approximately 40 minutes. They also restricted access to Mary Street where it intersects Madison Avenue.

The Ottumwa Police Department officer in charge was Sgt. Steve Kovacs. He said there will be an investigation, but at this point, no specific information is available.

He did say at first glance, it looked like the vehicles were coming toward one another for a potential head-on collision, that there was a “big impact” and that the SUV had rolled over.

Everyone in both cars has been taken to the hospital. The conditions of those involved were not known; Kovacs said the baby, at least, looked safe, but paramedics were transporting it to the hospital, too, because of the serious nature of the crash.

Source :
Serious accident closes Highway 63