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PIERCETON - Seven people were injured in a three-vehicle accident this morning on Ind. 13 at the curve south of Old Road 30, near Pierceton.
Three of the injured were flown by helicopter ambulance to Parkview Hospital, Fort Wayne, where one person is listed in critical condition and condition reports on the two others were not available at press time. Two helicopters landed at the scene of the 8 a.m. accident.
According to Kosciusko County Sheriff's Deputies Doug Brumfield Jr. and Matt Rapp, a car driven by Chancy Schmucker, 24, of Pierceton, was stopped southbound on Ind. 13 waiting to make a left-hand turn onto Old Ind. 13, when the vehicle was rear-ended by a Jeep driven by Tonya Gudakunst, 35, of South Barbee Drive, Pierceton.
Upon impact, Schmucker's car was pushed into the northbound lane, where it was struck in the passenger rear side by a truck driven by Leonard Seibel Jr., 48, of Mount Pleasant Mills, Pa. Schmucker's car then hit a utility pole with its driver's side rear.
Schmucker suffered head, shoulder and finger pain and was taken to Whitley Memorial Hospital, Columbia City, for treatment.
The passengers in Schmucker's car were the most seriously injured in the accident. A back-seat driver's side passenger, Lisa Schmucker, no age available, of Pierceton, suffered internal injuries and was airlifted along with her 4-year-old daughter, Davanna Schmucker, who was in a child safety seat in the rear center seat. The child suffered head injuries. Reports on their conditions were not available from Parkview late this morning.
A front-seat passenger, Jeff Sutton, 23, no address available, was airlifted to Parkview with unknown injuries. He is listed in critical condition.
Seibel complained of chest pain and was taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital, Warsaw. A female passenger in his truck was not injured.
Gudakunst did not report any injuries, but two passengers in her vehicle were taken to KCH: Kurtz Gudakunst, 6, complained of shoulder and leg pain, and Hans Gudakunst, 8, complained of head pain.
Police did not know if the people involved in the accident were wearing seat belts at the time of the collision. The accident remains under investigation.
