Driver On Medication Blamed For Triple Fatality Accident In Texas County

News9.com

TEXAS COUNTY, Oklahoma -- Three Kansas residents were killed when a driver under the influence of medication crossed the center lane and struck their car. The accident took place at 4:45 p.m. Friday on U.S. Highway 54, just west of Tyrone, Oklahoma in Texas County, according to a report by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

Maria Rundell, 47, of Liberal Kansas was driving westbound on Highway 54 when she crossed the center line continuing onto the eastbound shoulder of the highway then tried to cross back over into the westbound lane.

She struck a eastbound Chevy van driven by Marciano Pulido, 62, of Liberal. The van entered a bar ditch on north side of the road and rolled one time, coming to rest on its wheels.

Three passengers in the van were pronounced dead at the scene. They were Gloria Pulido, 53; Lee Thonguanh, 61, and Victoriano Bautista-Lopez, age 49, all of Liberal.

Lopez was the only one in the van not wearing a seat belt. He was ejected from the vehicle. The other two fatality victims were pinned in the van for about four hours.

Rundell's car did a 180 spin and came to rest in the eastbound lane, the trooper said. She was admitted to a Liberal hospital in stable condition with leg injuries. The driver of the van, Marciano Pulido, survived the wreck and was admitted to a Liberal hospital in stable condition.

A fourth passenger in Pulido's van, 41-year-old Vicente Sebastian-Miguel, was also hospitalized in stable condition.

Trooper Grant Arnold of the Guymon Detachment lists Rundell's condition as being under the influence of medication. The type of medication is not listed. Pulido's condition at the time of the accident is listed as normal.

Cause of the accident is driving left of center.