SIX HURT IN ACCIDENTS NEAR PATTON

PATTON -- Six people were taken to area hospitals Sunday following a pair of automobile accidents near Patton.

The Missouri Highway Patrol said a Perryville couple sustained moderate injuries in a one-car accident at about 2:20 a.m., when a northbound vehicle driven by Sherri L. Blumm, 28, ran off Highway 51 about five miles north of Patton, struck an embankment, then hit a mailbox.

Sherri and Randy S. Blumm, 28, a passenger in the vehicle were transported to Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville, where they were treated and released.

Neither were wearing a seat belt, the patrol said.

Almost 12 hours later, near the spot of the earlier accident, two vehicles collided at the intersection of Highways 51 and 72.

Four people were treated at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau and released Sunday following the 2 p.m. accident.

The patrol said a vehicle driven by Ralph E. Keller, 69, of O'Fallon, Ill., went through a stop sign at the intersection and was struck in the side by an eastbound vehicle driven by Warren F. Dowdy, 37, of Marquand.

Keller's wife, Norma, 65, was a passenger in the vehicle, and Charles R. Bender, 33, of Marquand was a passenger in the second vehicle.