INJURY ACCIDENT IN CITY AMONG MANY IN DISTRICT

A three-car accident in Cape Girardeau Monday seriously injured two women but left a 3-month-old baby, who was a passenger in one of the cars, apparently unharmed.

Statewide, at least eight people were killed and numerous others injured in accidents during the extended Memorial Day weekend. Police also reported at least 20 people were arrested in Southeast Missouri on charges of driving while intoxicated.

Monday's accident in Cape Girardeau occurred at 1:50 p.m. near the intersection of William and Hanover streets. Police said a truck driven by Robert Mitchell King of Valley Park failed to stop and struck the rear of a car that was stopped and waiting to make a turn. The impact of the collision forced the second car into the path of a third, police said.

Injured were Martha Griffith, 20, of Cape Girardeau, a passenger in the second car, and Reba Edwards, 55, of Cape Girardeau, the driver of the third car.

A spokesperson at Southeast Missouri Hospital, where the women were taken, said Monday night both were in fair but stable condition.

According to police, King, 29, was westbound on William when he struck the back of the second car, also westbound and waiting to turn into a Fill-Up Mart gas station.

The second car was driven by Scotty L. Griffith Sr., 24, of Cape Girardeau. Griffith's car was pushed into the path of the eastbound car driven by Edwards.

Griffith's 3-month-old son, Scotty L. Griffith Jr., also a passenger in the car, was taken to Southeast Hospital.

The baby suffered two small scratches on his head and was kept overnight for observation, but a hospital spokesperson said he was uninjured. He had been riding in a child-restraint seat. Griffith Sr. was treated for minor injuries and released, the spokesperson said.

The accident did not harm King, police said, who was issued a summons for striking a lawfully stopped vehicle.

Police said those involved in the accident were wearing seat belts.

Other accidents during the holiday weekend include one Sunday evening in Tanglewood Lake Estates that injured a Cape Girardeau man.

Police said Dennis Brown, 24, was hurt when the motorcycle he was driving was struck by a car driven by 16-year-old Sean Kelley of Cape Girardeau. The motorcycle was in the middle of the road at the time of the accident, which occurred at 7 p.m., said police.

Brown was in satisfactory condition Monday night at Southeast Hospital, a hospital spokesperson said.

The Missouri Highway Patrol reported 18 accidents that resulted in 24 injuries as of Monday night for the Memorial Day weekend, which began Friday evening. No fatalities were reported for the 13-county Southeast Missouri area.

The patrol reported a Fredericktown woman was injured Monday morning in a two-car accident along U.S. 61 south of Fredericktown. Injured was Louise Murphy, 75.

At least eight people were killed elsewhere on Missouri roads over the extended weekend, including three out-of-state residents who died in a fiery crash early Monday in the southwest corner of the state.

The three were killed when a tractor-trailer drove over a slow-moving car on Interstate 44, just west of Mount Vernon, the patrol said. Both vehicles ran off the road, slammed into a concrete culvert and burst into flames.

The victims were identified as James Rogers, 27, of Medora, Ill. who was driving the truck; and Elmer Levart, 42, and his wife Virgie Levart, 41, of Blythe, Calif., who were in the car.

Crystal Weirich, 6, of Summersville was struck by a truck on Missouri 17 about two miles north of Summersville Monday morning, the patrol said. Police said Crystal was in the road when she was hit.

An accident Sunday near Joplin killed a 21-year-old man. Police said George McCartney of Joplin died when he was thrown from his car after it struck an embankment and overturned.

James C. Smith, 45, of Kansas City, died Saturday when his motorcycle struck the passenger side of a car and threw him about 30 feet, police said.

Joseph Roberts, 19, of Huber Heights, Ohio, also died Saturday when the pickup truck he was riding in crashed with a tractor-trailer, the patrol said.

And Kenneth Inabinett, 56, of Ocean Springs, Miss., died Saturday when his car ran off a highway and struck a tree, the patrol said.