KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One person was critically injured following a wreck on U.S. 71 near 77th Street on Wednesday morning.
According to authorities, the driver of a grey Saturn sedan was unable to stop in time and smashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer on the northbound lanes of U.S. 71 around 9:30 a.m.
The driver, identified only as a white female in her 20’s, was taken to an area hospital in critical condition. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured. Police say that there was a great deal of traffic congestion at the time of the wreck.
“There were some pretty severe injuries,” Sgt. Bill Mahoney said. “The truck driver, fortunately, was not hurt. Fortunately, all the other motorists were able to get stopped, so we didn’t have a chain reaction.”
The accident closed traffic on northbound U.S. 71 for several hours on Wednesday morning. It has since reopened.