FOUR-CAR CRASH INJURES 3 PEOPLE

YOUNT - A four-car accident Thursday afternoon on Route J injured three people, including a Fredericktown woman who suffered serious injuries.

The Perry County accident involved a head-on collision between two of the vehicles.

The Missouri Highway Patrol at Flat River reported that Melba Filley, 79, was seriously injured and taken to Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville. Filley, a passenger in a vehicle driven by Raymond Filley, was later transferred to Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was in serious condition Thursday night.

Filley, 78, also of Fredericktown, sustained minor injuries, as did a second driver, Kathy King, 36, of Perryville. Both went to Perry County Memorial Hospital.

The patrol spokesman said the accident happened 1.4 miles north of Highway 51 when a northbound 1984 Dodge pickup truck driven by Filley topped a hill and crossed the centerline. It struck the left side of a southbound 1967 Ford Truck driven by Ellis Reed, 54, of Arcadia.

The Filley vehicle then ran head on into a southbound 1990 Ford Probe, said the spokesman. King was driving that vehicle, he said.

The fourth car involved in the accident was struck by debris from the first collision. The debris struck the windshield of a southbound 1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by Julia Hotop, 30, of Perryville.