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A tractor driver has died and another person suffered serious injuries following a two-vehicle crash late Monday on a highway in Republic County, authorities said.
The collision was reported at 9:27 p.m. Monday on US-36 highway, about a half-mile west of the city of Scandia.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol’s online crash log, a Case IH tractor towing a farm implement was traveling west on US-36 when it was struck from behind by a 2016 Freightliner semitrailer that also was westbound on US-36.
Following the impact, the tractor entered the south ditch of the highway. The patrol said the driver was ejected from the tractor.
The driver of the tractor, identified as Andrew John Pumphrey, 38, of Mankato, was pronounced dead at the scene. The patrol said Pumphrey wasn’t wearing a safety restraint.
The driver of the semi, Casey E.A. Tate, 62, of Luray, sustained suspected minor injuries in the collision, the patrol said.
Tate was wearing his safety restraint, according to the patrol’s online crash log. There was no record of Tate being transported to the hospital.
A passenger in the semi, Michelle H. Hauger, 46, of Luray, was transported to Republic County Hospital in Belleville with serious injuries.
The patrol said Hauger was wearing her seat belt.
