SEVERAL HURT IN ACCIDENTS AROUND REGION

A Cape Girardeau man sustained moderate injuries early Saturday morning when the motorcycle he was riding ran off Route N at Scott City and struck a ditch embankment.

Two Perryville residents and a St. Marys resident were also injured in separate accidents Friday and Saturday. The Saturday accident left a 22-year-old Perryville man and a 20-year-old St. Marys man with serious injuries.

The Missouri Highway Patrol at Sikeston said the motorcycle accident injured Richard Groves, 40. Groves went to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, where a spokesperson said he was treated and released.

The motorcycle, a 1983 Honda, ran off Route N at the east city limits of Scott City after Groves lost control on a curve, a patrol spokesperson said. The accident occurred at 1:05 a.m. as Groves was headed east, he said.

The second Saturday accident, which also involved a single vehicle, happened on Route NN in Perry County, just east of the Ste. Genevieve County line.

Injured in the accident were the driver, David A. Ferguson, of Perryville, and a passenger, Tommie R. Holdiness, of St. Marys. Both were taken by helicopter to St. Louis University Medical Center and were in the hospital's intensive care unit late Saturday night.

Holdiness was described as being in critical condition. Ferguson's condition was described as serious.

A spokesperson with the Missouri Highway Patrol at Flat River said the vehicle, a westbound 1970 Oldsmobile, failed to make a curve and skidded off the right side of the roadway before striking a rock embankment. Neither Holdiness nor Ferguson were wearing seat belts, she said.

The accident occurred at 4:30 a.m., the patrol reported.

The Friday accident involved a 1969 Chevrolet pickup truck and a John Deere road grader. The patrol spokesperson said the accident occurred on Perry County Road 606 at 10:20 a.m.

According to the patrol, the pickup truck was southbound when it struck the right front tire of the northbound road grader on a hill crest.

Lindsay N. Kiefer, 4, of Perryville, suffered moderate injuries in the collision and was taken to Perry County Memorial Hospital. Also taken to the hospital were Joshua R. Kiefer, 1, and Donna R. Kiefer, 22, both of Perryville. They received minor injuries in the accident.