UPDATE, 5:45 p.m.: A head-on collision Thursday morning on Highway 167 in Batesville claimed the lives of a minor and a Hardy woman.
According to the Arkansas State Police Preliminary Fatality Report, Tammy J Gardner, 55, of Hardy was driving a 2019 Chevrolet van with two minor passengers south on U.S. 167 around 5:53 a.m. when a northbound 2016 GMC Sierra pick-up truck driven by Cody L. Conboy, 20, of Greenbriar drove into the southbound lanes of traffic and struck the left front of the van with the left front of his truck.
The report said Gardner was killed along with one minor passenger in the van. Gardner’s other minor passenger was injured and transported to Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
Conboy was also reported as injured and was transported to White River Medical Center.
Arkansas State Police Cpl. Jeremy C. Hughes’s report noted the weather was clear and the road was dry at the time of the accident.
UPDATE, 12:50 p.m.: A Batesville day care center has posted on social media that a driver of a Medicaid transport van along with a child were killed in the early morning head-on collision with a pick-up truck on Highway 167 in front of the Batesville Police Department. Another child was critically hurt and transported to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, the post said.
No names have officially been released, and there is also no word on the condition of the pick-up truck driver.
The post from STARS Academy also noted Arkansas State Police told the center that the van was not at fault.
White River Now will have more information on this story as it develops.
UPDATE, 9:25 a.m.: Batesville Police Chief Alan Cockrill has described this morning’s apparent head-on collision on Highway 167 near the entrance to the BPD headquarters as a “major” accident. White River Now’s Gary Bridgman spoke to Cockrill moments ago.
Reports have also noted the time of the accident was around 5:50 a.m., and according to witnesses, involved a white transport van and a blue pick-up. Traffic flow was slowed in the area for over two hours.
Cockrill said the accident is being investigated by the Arkansas State Police.
Authorities from the Arkansas State Police, the Batesville Police Department, the Batesville Fire Department, and the Independence County Sheriff’s Department have been on the scene this morning of what appears to be a serious head-on collision in front of the Batesville Police Department on Highway 167.
Witnesses say the accident apparently involved a van and a pick-up truck.
Multiple calls to White River Now reported major traffic delays near the White Drive and Highway 167 intersection earlier this morning while authorities worked the accident.
White River Now has reached out to officials and will have more information as this story develops.
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