MEDICINE PARK, Okla. - A sport utility vehicle carrying six people flipped on Interstate 44, killing five of the occupants but sparing a child, authorities said Friday.
Three adult and three children were riding in a Ford Explorer when the SUV tumbled over a guardrail on I-44 near Medicine Park and onto intersecting Oklahoma 49, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.
The OHP, the Comanche County Sheriff's Department, the Comanche Nation Police Department, Elgin firefighters and other emergency responders arrived at the accident shortly before 5 p.m.
Trooper Tom Pixton, an OHP investigator, said the SUV was traveling south on the highway when it hit the guardrail, slid down the structure to the start of the overpass and then dropped to the highway below, landing on its top.
The child who survived was flown by medical helicopter to the Children's Center in Bethany. Pixton said the child is expected to survive.
Oklahoma 49 was closed to traffic for two hours after the accident, Pixton said.
The adult driver and an adult front-seat passenger were wearing seatbelts, but it's not clear yet whether the children were strapped in, he said.
"The back seat adult did not have one on, and it's unknown about the children," he said.
The identities of the victims were not released pending notification of next of kin. The cause of the accident was still under investigation, Pixton said.
"We do not believe alcohol or drugs contributed at all to this situation," he said.
