SUMNER COUNTY, Kansas – A man heading the wrong way on the Kansas Turnpike slammed into a mini-van, killing himself and three members of a Wichita family Monday morning, according to officials.
Troopers say at around 5 a.m. Monday the driver of an SUV left the Belle Plaine service station on the turnpike and started heading north in the southbound lanes. He slammed into a mini-van filled with a family headed to see relatives in Texas. The mini-van was then rear-ended by a semi-truck, which overturned.
The entrance to the service station is clearly marked with several signs warning drivers they’re headed the wrong way. But that didn’t’ stop the driver of the SUV.
“We’re going to do follow-up probably try to find out on the driver, try to trace back where he'd been, what he had been up to,” said Capt. John Walters with the Kansas Highway Patrol. “We’ve reconstructed the accident. We’ll go back and reconstruct the accident to figure out exactly where everybody was when they were hit, so it’s going to be a lot of follow-up.”
The 27-year-old driver of the SUV, Gregory Davis, of Wichita, was killed along with three others in the mini-van. They were 39-year-old Kyong Chae, her daughter, 17-year-old Yuna Choi and son, nine-year-old Seo Won Choi.
Yuna was a sophomore at East High School. Her twin sister, Hana Choi, was the only one to survive in the van. She’s in critical condition at Wesley Medical Center. Police say she was the only one wearing a seat belt.
The driver of the semi suffered only minor injuries.
Investigators are puzzled as to how Davis didn’t see the wrong way sign on the exit ramps before causing the fatal crash.
“You figure thousands and thousands of cars that go up and down the roadway and use that service area we very seldom have any problems like this,” Capt. Walters said. “This is a very rare occasion.”
All three children involved in the crash were students in Wichita. USD 259 is on Spring Break this week.
A spokesperson with the district says they may make grief councilors available to students who knew the Choi family when classes resume next week.
