One person hurt in Cole County wreck that closed US 54

Missouri Department of Transportation graphic
Missouri Department of Transportation graphic

One person was injured Saturday afternoon in a three-vehicle crash that temporarily closed U.S. 54 in Cole County.

The Missouri Highway Patrol reports the crash occurred at 1:06 p.m. in the eastbound lanes of the divided highway near Goller Road when a car driven by McKenna L. Turpin, 21, of Eldon, struck the rear of a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck driven by Wayne W. Barbrow, 48, of Aurora.

The pickup then swerved right, overcorrected to the left, rotated counter-clockwise, slid into the median and overturned into the westbound lanes where it was struck in the side by a second pickup truck driven by Justin D. Cain, 37, of Jefferson City.

Barbrow was transported by ambulance to University Hospital in Columbia for treatment of moderate injuries, the patrol said. All those involved in the crash were wearing seat belts.

Authorities shut down both directions of travel on the highway until around 2:20 p.m. Saturday as they worked at the accident scene.

This report was edited at 9:47 a.m. Aug. 10, 2020, to correct the names of the drivers in the pickup trucks, which had been transposed in the original version.