Collision with semi, van along Kansas Turnpike sends three to hospital

SUMNER CO., Kan. (WIBW) - A collision between a semi-truck and a transit van along the Kansas Turnpike sent three people to the hospital with serious injuries.

The Kansas Highway Patrol Crash Log indicates that around 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 13, emergency crews were called to the area of mile marker 29.6 along southbound I-35 in Sumner Co. with reports of a 2-vehicle collision.

When law enforcement officials arrived, they said they found a 2020 Freightliner semi-truck driven by Ali Abbas, 33, of Henrico, Va., had drifted into the closed part of the interstate and hit the barrier protection and then the barrier wall.

KHP noted that Abbas’ semi then also hit a 2016 Ford transit van driven by Rafael Soto-Hernandez, 35, of Wichita.

First responders said Abbas, Soto-Hernandez and his passenger, Adrian Nunez, 39, of Wichita, were all taken to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita with suspected serious injuries.

KHP said Nunez and Soto-Hernandez were not wearing their seatbelts at the time of the collision. It is unknown if Abbas was wearing his.