A single-vehicle accident in the IXL area near Arkansas City early Saturday has claimed the life of a Newkirk, Okla. woman, Cowley County Undersheriff Bill Mueller said this morning.
Elizabeth E. Pratt, 28, was ejected from the Ford Explorer she was riding in and was not breathing at the scene. She was transported to South Central Kansas Regional Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
Pratt was riding in the front seat and not wearing a seat belt.
The accident occurred just after 1 a.m when the Explorer, which was heading southbound, went of the west side of the road in the 32000 block of 61st Rd. near IXL Baptist Church.
The vehicle hit a mailbox, came back up on the road and flipped on its side. It then skidded across the road before coming to rest in the east ditch.
The driver, Jonathan Bowman, 25, Ark City, was wearing a seat belt and suffered only minor injuries. He was treated and released from the hospital.
John Bahruth, 26, Michael Stephens, 45, and Terrance Hess, 24, all of Ark City, were passengers in the car. Hess suffered very minor injuries, Mueller said.
An investigation is continuing to determine whether alcohol was involved in the accident.
