The condition of an Arkansas City man who survived a traffic accident Monday morning on the E. Chestnut Avenue underpass has been upgraded from critical to serious, according to a spokeswoman at Via ChristI Regional Medical Center in Wichita.
Leobardo Navarro, 25, was airlifted to the Wichita hospital but 19-year-old Jose Sigala was killed. Police have requested an autopsy be performed.
The cause of the accident – and whether alcohol may have been a factor – is still under investigation.
Someone reported shortly before the accident that the car the men were in was doing donuts in the middle of the intersection of Kansas Avenue and the U.S. 77 bypass.
A police officer was in the area, clocked the car speeding and turned around to stop the car but observed an explosion and ball of fire before he could reach the car. The men were ejected from the 1987 Ford Mustang.
