Trailer carrying solar car wrecks in Kansas

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY -- A van with 10 Iowa State students that was pulling a trailer carrying the ISU solar car was involved in an accident just south of Topeka, Kan., Tuesday morning.

All 10 passengers were sent to local hospitals. The solar car sustained extensive damage.

One of the students, Karla Abrahamson, a freshman in pre-engineering from White Bear Lake, Minn., underwent surgery Tuesday afternoon.

John McCarroll, director of university relations, said five students were immediately released from Stormont Vail Regional Medical Center in Topeka.

Two students were treated and released, while three others were admitted to the hospital.

Five other students were treated and released from another facility, St. Francis Hospital in Topeka.

McCarroll said staff members in the Dean of Students Office have contacted all the family members of the 18 students on the trip. Several family members, including Abrahamson's, are going to Topeka.

Hospital officials are making lodging arrangements for the students. McCarroll, who had received reports from the Kansas State Highway Patrol, said the trailer carrying the solar car began swerving as members of Team PrISUm were driving north on Interstate 335 at about 8 a.m. The trailer then jackknifed, causing the ISU-owned van to go into the ditch.

The Iowa State Daily
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