Winter weather recap: Three killed in Whitley County crash Wednesday night

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Staff Report

WARSAW — Winter weather was credited with a traffic accident that killed three people in Whitley County and major traffic snarls in Elkhart and Kosciusko County on Wednesday.

In Whitley County, a woman and two youngsters died in a crash on Wednesday night when a vehicle traveling northbound on State Road 9 and driven by 31-year-old Emily Franks, lost control, and went into the southbound lane of State Road 9 near CR 300N and struck another vehicle shortly after 6 p.m.

Franks, along with a 3-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl, died in the crash.

The conditions on the road were icy, according to the release.

The driver of the other vehicle, 71-year-old David Bales, was taken to an area hospital with minor injuries.

In Elkhart County, police responded to a 30-vehicle pile-up on the Indiana Toll Road near Bristol at around 4 p.m.

Police believe problems began with a three-vehicle crash in the eastbound lanes during a period of low visibility due to blowing snow.

That led to a series of accidents with multiple semis and other vehicles eventually blocking the eastbound lanes.

Several people were taken to a hospital to be treated for their injuries, and one semi driver was trapped for several hours before being freed from the wreckage.

Police do not believe any of the injuries are life-threatening.

Traffic was diverted from the interstate for hours before it reopened around 8 p.m.

In Warsaw, SR 15, between Center Street and Anchorage Road, was temporarily closed after traffic accidents took down more than one utility line, with at least one strewn across the road.

That accident happened around 4:15 p.m.

The post Winter weather recap: Three killed in Whitley County crash Wednesday night appeared first on News Now Warsaw.