Updated: Sunday, 3:28 p.m.
An Ark City man injured in an accident on U.S. 77 highway at the railroad tracks by Strother Field is in “fair” condition, according to a spokeswoman at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita Sunday afternoon.
25-year-old Joshua Waldorf had to be extracted Wednesday afternoon from his 1999 Honda Accord and immediately helicoptered to Wichita after running into the rear of a Wichita Transit bus that had stopped at the railroad tracks midway between Winfield and Ark City.
According to the Cowley County Sheriff’s Office, the bus was transporting employees of Creekstone Farms Premium Beef in Ark City when the collision occurred. No passengers were injured.
– Brady Bauman
From Wednesday, 9:45 p.m.
The Cowley County Sheriff’s Office has released more information on the accident that occurred on U.S. 77 highway near Strother Field Wednesday afternoon.
According to Cowley County Sheriff Dave Falletti, at approximately 3:30 p.m. a Wichita transit bus driven by Steven Doze of Derby was northbound on the highway in the 22000 block with 31 passengers — identified in the news release as Creekstone Farms Premium Beef employees. The bus stopped in the outside lane at the railroad tracks. Then, a black 1999 Honda Accord driven by 25-year-old Joshua Waldorf of Ark City collided with the rear of the bus.
Waldorf was pinned in the vehicle and required extraction by the combined efforts of the Winfield and Ark City fire departments. The highway was closed briefly northbound when an air ambulance landed on the northbound lanes of the highway on the north side of the railroad crossing.
Waldorf was transported to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita with serious injuries. No passengers of the bus reported any injuries.
A second transit bus later arrived to transport the passengers. Northbound lanes were reopened by late Wednesday afternoon.
– Brady Bauman
Earlier:
A person was critically injured this afternoon in an accident that occurred on U.S. 77 highway near Strother Field.
Emergency personnel were at the scene of the collision that involved a Wichita Transit bus and a second vehicle that approached from behind. The bus was said to have been stopped at railroad tracks and was struck by the second vehicle, which was traveling at highway speed.
The accident occurred in the northbound lanes of 77. An air ambulance was called to the scene of the crash to transport a patient.
Conditions of anyone injured were not immediately available.
Emergency crews worked for some time to free someone from the wreckage of the smaller vehicle.
The accident happened around 3:30 p.m.
(Photo by Brady Bauman)
