Patrol: Three injured in Monday crash on U.S. 60 in critical condition

DEXTER, Mo. -- Three women seriously injured in a Labor Day car crash on U.S. 60 eight miles east of Dexter remained in critical condition Tuesday, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Two of the women, 18-year-old Jaclyn King of Poplar Bluff, Mo., and St. Louis resident Melissa Reeser, were transported to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

The third woman, Lana D. Chamness, 61, of Creal Springs, Ill., remains in critical condition at Elvis Presley Trauma Center in Memphis, Tenn. She was airlifted from the scene.

The accident, which involved 18 vehicles, injured 26 people, according to an updated crash report from the highway patrol. Thick smoke from a field fire covered the roadway, causing a chain-reaction accident.

Dale Moreland, spokesman for the highway patrol, said the landowner wasn't cited for the incident.

"There was no criminal intent," he said. "The field accidentally started on fire."

A farmer was reportedly burning trash on his land that started a nearby field on fire.

Highway patrol and assisting law enforcement had eastbound lanes on U.S. 60 closed for about six hours Monday.

Crews transported all injured vehicle occupants to area hospitals in less than an hour.

"Start to finish, that's really amazing," said David Cooper, Stoddard County ambulance director. "We activated a disaster plan and put everything in place. It worked like a charm."

ehevern@semissourian.com

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