Three people injured in crash at south city limits of jasper

Three people were injured in a three-vehicle auto accident that occurred on Tuesday morning on Highway 96 at the south city limits of Jasper. Police, fire, and other emergency personnel were dispatched to the location near the roadside park, shortly after 11:00, when it was reported that the crash occurred and arrived to find one of the vehicles involved; a sport utility vehicle, had went off of the roadway and caught fire following Jasper Police said that an investigation revealed that the crash occurred when a 2015 Hyundai Elantra which was headed north, for some unknown reason, stopped in the highway and was then rear ended by a 2O17 Dodge Journey. Officers said the impact caused the Hyundai to spin around and go under the trailer of a northbound 2OO9 Peterbilt and the Dodge to go off the east side of the highway and catch fire. However, the driver and passenger of the SUV were able to make it out. The driver of the Hyundai, Thelma Sterling, 78 and her passenger William Sterling, 81, both of Buna were taken by ambulance to Jasper Memorial Hospital where they were at last word still undergoing treatment for their injuries. The driver of the Dodge, Leroy McCoy, 18 of Kirbyville was also taken to the hospital. However, a passenger in the Dodge, Adam Rubio, 18, also of Kirbyville and the driver of the eighteen-wheeler, Reginald Richard, 49 of Opelousas, Louisiana, were not injured in the crash. What happened is not clear and at last word officers from the Jasper Police Department were investigating in an attempt to find out what caused the crash. However, a witness at the scene said the suv and a Hyundai passenger car were traveling north when they collided causing the suv to cross over the lane and strike a southbound eighteen wheeled tractor trailer truck. The volunteers of the Jasper Fire Department arrived quickly and extinguished the fire within a short time. Highway 96 was blocked for a short period of time and as workers removed the wreckage from the roadway before opening it to one way traffic and the finally returned it to two-way flow.