Five people were taken to hospitals Friday afternoon after a three-vehicle accident on Highway 75 in front of the travel plaza at BETO Junction, just south of Interstate Highway 35.
The accident happened shortly after 12:32 p.m.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported that a 1993 Ford Escort driven by Rachel Naomia Austin, 18, of Hartford, attempted to make a left turn from the travel plaza parking lot onto Highway 75 when it collided with a 2002 Taurus driven by Floyd E. Wheeler, 64, of Neodesha.
The Wheeler vehicle, which was northbound on Highway 75, then struck a southbound 1998 Freightliner semi-tractor trailer unit that was stopped on the highway, waiting to turn left.
Austin was taken to Stormont-Vail Health Center in Topeka. Passengers in her car -- Devon Rae Moore, 16, and Blake Allan Struttman, 23, both of Hartford -- were taken to Coffey County Hospital. Both young women were wearing safety restraints, KHP reported; Struttman was not.
Wheeler and a passenger in the Taurus, Hilda B. Wheeler, 62, of Neodesha, also were taken to Coffey County Hospital. Both were wearing safety restraints.
The driver of the semi, David Victor Cramer, 63, of Garrison, N.D., was not injured, nor was a passenger in the truck, Dianne Kathryn Cramer, 55, also of Garrison.
Patient conditions will be reported when they are available.