(KTVI) – Three people, including an elderly woman are in critical condition after a violent two car crash south of Mascoutah, Illinois. Illinois State Police are investigating the possibility of alcohol leading to the wreck.
It happened about 9:45 am Tuesday on Route 4 near Jefferson. Troopers say two men, both 30, were southbound when something went wrong.
“He lost control of the wheel, swerved to the right of the roadway, then overcorrected back to the left and struck the victim vehicle head on,” Trooper Calvin Dye, Jr. said.
That second vehicle was driven by a 77-year-old woman. Witnesses say she was covered in wreckage. Firefighters had to cut her out of her tan Buick. Meanwhile the driver of the car that caused the wreck was unresponsive, and his passenger, apparently not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown into the highway.
Wayne Bettis lives nearby and was one of the first outside. “It was horrid, the horror of two cars colliding. I come out of the house and find someone lying out in the middle of the highway. It was a pretty nasty accident.”
Another neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified, says she smelled alcohol on the two thirty year olds. Police confirm an open container was found in the vehicle, and say they are looking at alcohol as a potential cause.
Detectives were seen leaving St. Louis University Hospital with several bags containing evidence.
