By Staff
ACCIDENT This 1999 Buick Century was damaged in a three-vehicle accident in the eastbound lane of Interstate 20/59, near Russell. It was the second multiple-vehicle interstate accident in two days. Photo by Chris Whitaker / The Meridian Star
By Chris Whitaker and Steve Gillespie / staff writers
May 24, 2002
A Forest woman and her two children were taken to Rush Foundation Hospital on Thursday after a three-vehicle accident on Interstate 20/59.
Sgt. Johnny Knox of the Mississippi Highway Patrol said that Dorothy Strong, 50, and her son, Robert, 16, were in stable condition at Rush.
Knox said that Strong's daughter, Ramona, 20, was treated and released.
The accident happened at about 4 p.m. in the eastbound lane of I-20/59 near the 161 mile marker near Russell. The right lane had been closed at the time while workers cut trees near the highway.
Knox said that a 1982 Dodge Ram van collided with Strong's 1999 Buick Century. Strong's brother, James Wilson, 54, also of Forest, was driving the van.
Knox said the Buick then apparently collided with an 18-wheeler driven by Savannah, Tenn., resident Robert Bray, 57.
Meridian Fire Department rescue workers had to remove the top of the Buick to remove Strong, her daughter and her son.
The accident was the second multiple-vehicle wreck on I-20/59 in two days. On Wednesday, an 18-wheeler collided with two other tractor trailers and a van stuck in a traffic jam on the interstate.
The Wednesday accident happened in the westbound lane of I-20/59 just before the interstate splits west of Meridian. The Thursday accident happened in the eastbound lanes east of the city.