Chain-Reaction Wreck On Cimarron Turnpike Sends 2 To Hospital

A four-vehicle collision shut down a stretch of the westbound lanes of the Cimarron Turnpike on Sunday afternoon and sent two people to the hospital. Traffic was backed up at least 2 miles while cleanup took place.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol worked the wreck, which was east of the Hallett toll plaza.

An OHP collision report says a semi truck without a trailer was traveling at a low speed on U.S. Highway 412 near mile marker 50.5. A minivan didn't gauge the truck's speed correctly and hit it in the rear, causing a chain reaction, the report says.

Two other vehicles slammed into the rear of the minivan and struck the cable barrier in the median.

The driver of the minivan, 42-year-old Leslie Araujo, of Fort Smith, Ark., was airlifted to a Tulsa hospital. Her passenger, a 14-year-old boy, was pinned for 35 minutes before being freed by the Cleveland and Jennings Fire Departments. He also was taken by medical helicopter. Both were in critical condition, OHP said.

The driver of the semi, 45-year-old Yury Garcia-Lopez, of Dodge City, Kan., was not injured.

Five people from Fort Smith were inside an SUV that struck the minivan from behind, but none were injured. A Tulsa man in the fourth vehicle was not injured either, OHP said.

The cause of the collision was due to the semi impeding traffic and the minivan following too closely, the investigating trooper wrote in the report.

Everyone in all four vehicles used proper restraints, OHP said.

By 5 p.m., one lane westbound lane was reopened and traffic began moving slowly.