Turnpike, KS : One killed in semi crash on Interstate 35 on the turnpike, about six miles south of the Mulvane exit on Thursday, 21st November, 2019

One person was killed early Thursday when one semi-trailer ran into the rear of another that had become disabled on the Kansas Turnpike in southern Kansas, authorities said.

The crash was reported at 12:53 a.m. on Interstate 35 on the turnpike, about six miles south of the Mulvane exit.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, a 1984 Peterbilt semi was traveling south on I-35 when one of its axles seized and the drive shaft broke.

A 2019 Volvo semi that also was southbound on I-35 then struck the Peterbilt semi in the rear.

A passenger in the Volvo semi, Stanley Ray Sims, 49, of Waldron, Ark., was pronounced dead at the scene. The patrol said Sims wasn’t wearing a seat belt.

The driver of the Volvo semi, Denise M. Sims, 45, of Waldron, Ark., was reported to have serious injuries. She was transported to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. The Kansas Highway Patrol’s online crash log didn’t indicate whether she was wearing a seat belt.

The driver of the Peterbilt semi, Regina Marie Southerland, 39, of Tulsa, Okla., and a passenger, Blake Tyler Harris, 28, of Inola, Okla., were reported uninjured. The patrol said Southerland was wearing a seat belt. The patrol didn’t indicate whether Harris was wearing a seat belt.

An injury crash was reported about the same time as a vehicle slowed for the fatality crash, the patrol said.

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