SIX MAJOR-INJURY ACCIDENTS IN TROOP E DISTRICT

A school bus accident that injured four students and two other serious-injury accidents were among six major-injury collisions that occurred in the Missouri Highway Patrol region Wednesday and Thursday.

One of the serious-injury accidents occurred Wednesday night in Bollinger County 1 mile north of Patton on Highway 51. Misty Smith, 20, of Fredericktown was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital with serious injuries after the 8:20 p.m. crash. She was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Jamie Oliver, 17, of Perryville. He had minor injuries. The driver of the other vehicle, Lori Raines, 17, of Patton also had minor injuries.

According to the Highway Patrol, the accident occurred when the Oliver vehicle failed to yield the right of way and was struck by the Raines vehicle.

The other serious-injury accident was a single-vehicle crash at 4:10 p.m. Thursday on Grant Road, 1 mile west of Dexter. John Jibben, 40, of Dexter was taken by Lifebeat helicopter to Southeast Missouri Hospital with serious injuries.

According to Highway Patrol, the accident occurred as Jibben's vehicle ran off the right side of the road, he overcorrected and ran off the left side of the road, striking a tree.

The school bus accident occurred at 3:30 p.m. Thursday on Route ZZ, 3 miles west of Dexter. Sustaining moderate injuries were passengers Rachel Jarrell,14, Douglas Kitchen, 12, Christina Martin, 16, and Kim Tomes, 17. All were taken to Dexter Memorial Hospital.

The driver of the other vehicle, Eric Bawling, 16, of Dexter and the driver of the school bus, Linda Stearns, 35, of Dexter were not injured.

Highway Patrol said the accident occurred as the bus stopped to unload children and was struck in the rear by the Bawling vehicle.

The other accidents were:

• A single-vehicle crash at 11:25 p.m. Wednesday on Stoddard County Route Y, 1.5 miles northeast of Aquilla. Nikkco Fortner, 26, of Bloomfield was taken to Dexter Memorial Hospital with moderate injuries. He later was transferred to Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

Fortner lost control of the vehicle, which traveled off the roadway and struck a telephone pole, according to the Highway Patrol.

• A single-vehicle accident at 6:40 a.m. Thursday on Highway 177, 2 miles north of Cape Girardeau. The driver, Linda Pollard, 24, of Cape Girardeau was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital with moderate injuries. Her passenger, Amy Ayers, 21, of Cape Girardeau was taken to the same hospital with moderate injuries.

According to the Highway Patrol, Pollard lost control of the vehicle on wet pavement. It ran off the road and struck an embankment.

• A single-vehicle accident at 8:25 a.m. Thursday on I-55, 1 mile south of Benton. Glenda McComb, 50, of Laurel, Miss., was taken to Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston with moderate injuries. Her passenger, Gordon Long, 25, of Laurel had minor injuries.

The Highway Patrol said McComb's vehicle was forced off the roadway while overtaking another vehicle, traveled into the median and overturned.