Rte. 3 reopened after deadly multi-vehicle crash near Union-Alexander County line

UNION & ALEXANDER COUNTY, Ill. (KFVS) - Emergency crews rushed the scene of a four-vehicle crash on Route 3 at the Union-Alexander County line on Monday morning, June 20.

The crash happened just south of the line at 9:30 a.m.

A photo from a Heartland News crew on the scene shows first responders putting out a fire involving at least two vehicles, an SUV and a pickup truck.

According to Illinois State Police, the driver of a full-size SUV, traveling north on Rte. 3, lost control of their vehicle and crossed into the southbound lane.

ISP said the SUV side-swiped the driver’s side of a southbound GMC pickup truck.

The driver of a semi tractor-trailer, traveling behind the truck, tried to swerve over into the northbound lane to avoid the SUV, but the rig was sideswiped on the passenger side by the SUV.

The SUV then hit a Ford Ranger head-on.

ISP said the driver of the Ford truck was killed in the crash. Their name is not being released at this time.

The driver of the SUV, 53-year-old Catherine Newell, of Grand Tower, was flown from the scene to an area hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the GMC truck, 67-year-old Louis Licka, of Buncombe, and the driver of the semi, 21-year-old Austin Myer, of Festus, didn’t report any injuries at the scene.

Route 3 was shutdown shortly after the crash and reopened around 2:15 p.m.

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