NEWSLINE: FREAK ACCIDENT INJURES WOMAN

SIKESTON - An Arkansas woman sustained serious injuries Thursday evening when she fell onto Interstate 55 after the passenger door of a tractor-trailer opened.

Elsewhere, a 9-year-old Benton boy was moderately injured Thursday when he rode a bicycle into the path of a vehicle.

The Arkansas woman, Barbara Loggins, 51, of Harrison, was taken to the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, said a spokesperson with the Missouri Highway Patrol at Poplar Bluff.

Loggins fell from the tractor-trailer, a Freight Liner, three miles north of Sikeston at about 7:15 p.m., according to the patrol.

"It was kind of an unusual deal," the patrol spokesperson said. "The accident happened as the passenger door of the vehicle came open for some unknown reason. The passenger was unable to hold onto the door and fell out of the vehicle onto the shoulder of the roadway."

The vehicle was being driven south by George Loggins, 54, also of Harrison, Ark.

Apparently no foul play is involved, said the spokesperson. The case has already been investigated and is considered closed at the present time, the spokesperson said.

The second accident, involving the Benton boy, occurred at 4:27 p.m. on Highway 61 in Benton, the patrol said.

Injured was Nicholas Anglin, who was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, where he was reported in satisfactory condition Thursday night.

The patrol spokesperson said that Nicholas apparently failed to yield to a 1987 Chevrolet, driven north by Mark Madigan, 30, of Sikeston.