News editor
Three Goessel school students and a driver were taken to hospitals after the sport utility vehicle they were in slid on ice and rolled Friday morning between Marion and Hillsboro.
They were on their way to classes in Marion when the vehicle crashed, USD 411 Superintendent John Fast said.
According to the accident report by Marion County Sheriff’s Department, Ann L. Thiesen was driving the school-owned 1999 GMC Yukon when it slid on an icy patch of 190th Rd. ¼ mile east of Nighthawk. The vehicle crossed the westbound lane of traffic, went off the road, and rolled before coming to rest upright.
The official accident report and a press release from Fast disagree on the precise time of the crash and how many times the vehicle rolled. Fast said the crash happened shortly after 8 a.m. and the vehicle rolled three times. The official report said it happened at 7:30 a.m. and the vehicle rolled twice. Radio dispatching for ambulances started at 8 a.m.
Thiesen and the passengers, who ranged in age from 10 to 14, were all wearing seatbelts, and none were trapped or ejected from the vehicle in the crash.
Marion, Hillsboro, and Peabody ambulance, Marion fire, and Marion rescue responded to the crash. Thiesen and a girl passenger were taken by Marion ambulance to St. Luke Hospital. Two boys were taken by Hillsboro ambulance to Hillsboro Community Hospital.
Fast said two of the students were treated and released, and one was taken to a hospital in Wichita and kept overnight before being released. Thiesen was also taken to a Wichita hospital for treatment and was released Sunday afternoon.