The Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) says that a motorist lost her life in a multi-vehicle crash in downtown Topeka on Wednesday.
The crash happened around 4:20 p.m. on February 24 on I-70 near mile marker 361 in Topeka, Kansas.
According to a crash report from KHP, a truck hauling a load of metal pipes driven by 38 year old Jesse C. Vannoy was traveling eastbound on I-70 in the inside lane when “the load securement … failed, causing large, metal pipes to travel over the concrete barrier wall and into the Westbound lanes of traffic.”
One of the metal pipes struck the rear of a Ford Expedition, then landed on top of a Kia Forte. A Ford F250 SuperDuty was unable to stop and rear-ended the Kia Forte, causing the Kia to spin and strike a bridge rail. A Chevy pickup struck another metal pipe, forcing the pickup to travel to the inside lane and then back across the outside lane and become disabled. A Toyota Camry hit a metal pipe and became disabled in the inside lane. A second semi truck was also struck by a metal pipe as it moved across westbound I-70.
According to KHP, “due to the severity of the collision with the pipe,” the Kia driver passed away at the scene. She was later identified as 29 year old Manhattan, Kansas resident Brooke Rees.
The incident is still under investigation.