Crashes in Clay, Tucker counties claim 4 lives

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Four people are dead and several others injured following separate traffic accidents Wednesday morning in West Virginia.

State troopers said 17-year-old Kara Conley of Clay County was killed in pickup truck crash around 4 a.m. on Route 36 near Wallback. Conley was one of 11 young people in the truck. They ranged in age from 14 to 20.

Several of the injured were taken to Charleston Area Medical Center. The driver has been identified as Isaac Murphy, 18.

Troopers said Conley was killed when the overturning truck rolled on top of her.

State police said speed contributed to the accident and marijuana was found in the truck. Troopers credited a member of the West Virginia Air National Guard, who lived near the accident scene, with immediately responding to help the injured before ambulance crews arrived.

Three people from Elkins were killed, including two children, in an early Wednesday morning accident in Tucker County.

State police told MetroNews the victims were traveling on U.S. Route 219 south of Thomas at about 5 a.m. when their car went left of center and collided with a large service truck.

Troopers estimated the driver, a 20-year-old man, fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the center line. The truck struck the car in the side.

The victims were an 8-year-old girl, her 7-year-old brother and the driver. State police said the man was the boyfriend of the mother, 29.  The mother and a third child, 6, were taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital in critical condition.

State troopers say the family was returning from a funeral of the children’s grandfather in Maryland.







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