Three area residents were seriously injured in a trio of crashes over the Fourth of July weekend, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The first accident occurred at 5:20 p.m. Friday on Highway PP, four miles west of Poplar Bluff.
According to the MSHP, Andrew A. Yount, 19, of Silva was operating a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee southbound when it failed to yield and pulled into the path of a westbound 1998 GMC Sierra operated by Christian J. Gallamore, 23, of Poplar Bluff.
Gallamore suffered serious injuries and was transported by Air Evac to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, while a two-year-old boy in Gallamore’s vehicle sustained moderate injuries and was transported by ambulance to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center.
The second accident took place at 6:15 p.m. Saturday on Highway T at the Eagle Point Recreational Area, one mile south of Wappapello.
According to the MSHP, Nicole A. McLard, 31, of Wappapello was operating a 2008 GMC Sierra northbound when it struck the rear of a northbound 1994 MG Replica operated by Gale W. Arnold, 81, of Wappapello. Arnold‘s vehicle then struck the rear of a northbound 2016 Chevrolet Silverado operated by a 16-year-old male from Qulin.
Arnold suffered serious injuries and was transported by ambulance to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center.
The third accident occurred at 3:22 p.m. Monday on Highway 34, two miles east of Silva.
According to the MSHP, Rocky A. Rogers, 60, of Lowndes was operating a 2011 Harley Davidson westbound when it ran off the right side of the road and overturned.
Rogers suffered serious injuries and was transported by Air Evac to St. Louis University Hospital.
Additionally, a 48-year-old New Madrid man was killed in a one-vehicle accident at 6:48 p.m. Saturday in Bollinger County.
According to the MSHP, Jack K. Meese, 48, of New Madrid was operating a Chevrolet Colorado westbound on Highway P, one mile west of Arab when it ran off the road, struck a tree and overturned, catching fire.
Meese was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:28 p.m. by Bollinger County deputy corner Lee Gilliam. He is the 30th fatality in Troop E this year.
Gilliam was one of six people killed in traffic accidents over the Fourth of July weekend in the state of Missouri, according to the MSHP. In addition, the MSHP reported a 25-year-old man from Collinsville, Illinois drowned after he jumped off a bluff into the Meramec River at Meramec State Park.