ANNA TEEN KILLED IN ONE OF 3 AREA ACCIDENTS

Three serious accidents were reported in the area Sunday, one of them resulting in a fatality.

Thomas Alan Fuller, 16, of Anna, Ill., was pronounced dead at the scene of a single-car accident on Route 127 at 12:24 a.m. According to the Illinois State Police, Fuller was traveling south on Route 127 when his vehicle ran off the road and struck a tree.

The accident occurred about one mile north of St. Johns Road.

In Cape Girardeau County, a single-car accident resulted in four injuries. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident happened on Route N, four miles west of Delta at approximately 5:30 p.m.

A pickup truck driven east on Route N by Michael S. Knight, 19, of Whitewater hit a steel bridge railing which impaled the vehicle, police said. The truck continued on for 24 feet before coming to rest, police said.

Knight was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau with moderate injuries. Jacob V. Vandinven, 19, of Whitewater, a passenger in the truck, was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital with serious injuries. Passenger April Burton, 15, of Dutchtown was taken to Southeast with minor injuries, and passenger Tyler G. Bowers, 19, of Delta, refused treatment at the scene for minor injuries, police said.

A serious accident in Perry County also sent one man to Southeast Hospital with serious injuries.

According to police, Wilford Ponder, 84, of Perryville was flown to the hospital aboard Life Beat helicopter after the accident on County Road 402 at County Road 404.

The accident occurred at 7:12 a.m. when Ponder drove his vehicle into the path of a car driven by Bradley Mueller, 21, of Perryville, police said. Police said Ponder was attempting to make right turn onto County Road 402 when the accident happened.

Mueller was not injured in the accident, police said.

Police said neither driver was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.