YATES CENTER — Wintry weather made for a catastrophic day in Woodson County Wednesday, with a pair of fatality accidents occurring 11 minutes apart.
Laura L. Hegwald, 47, was killed in the wreck, just south of Yates Center on U.S. 75 at 7:44 a.m.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported Hegwald was southbound when she lost control of her 2007 Buick, which collided with the rear of a pickup driven by Michelle L. Lever, 38, Neodesha.
Lever was unhurt in the accident.
Both drivers were wearing seat belts, according to KHP.
The second occurred at 7:55, when a van driven by Jeffrey A. Frericks, 52, Marshalltown, Iowa, lost control on U.S. 54, about two miles east of Yates Center.
The westbound Frericks collided with an eastbound vehicle driven by Robert E. Cochran, 58, Yates Center.
Cochran died in the accident. Frericks was transported to a Topeka hospital for what troopers described as suspected serious injuries.
Frericks was wearing a seat belt in the crash, according to KHP; Cochran was not.
The accidents left both highways closed for several hours as emergency crews cleared the wreckage.
