POPLAR BLUFF RESIDENTS DIE IN SEPARATE ACCIDENTS

Three Poplar Bluff residents have died in two separate accidents in Southeast Missouri.

Paulene Lott, 75, and John Gilliam, 17, both of Poplar Bluff died Wednesday in a two-vehicle accident on Interstate 55 near Sikeston.

The accident occurred at 7:30 a.m. about one mile south of Sikeston when Gilliam attempted to make a U-turn in the median and was struck by a tractor-trailer driven by James Wyatt, 41, of Memphis, Tenn., the Missouri Highway Patrol said. Gilliam was not wearing a seat belt, said the patrol.

A 4-year-old boy was killed Tuesday in a weather-related accident near Poplar Bluff.

The accident occurred about 3:15 p.m. six miles north of Poplar Bluff on U.S. Highway 67 when a car driven by Angali Gujarati, 37, of Poplar Bluff slid off the ice-covered road and overturned.

The driver's son, Nikung Gujarati, was killed when he was thrown from the vehicle, said the patrol.

Another passenger, Marie Beckner, 64, of Poplar Bluff also was injured in the accident. She was taken to Lucy Lee Hospital in Poplar Bluff.

The child was the only person in the car not wearing a seat belt, the patrol said.