Three killed in I-77 crash

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Three members of a Canadian family were killed and two others injured Thursday night in a crash on Interstate 77 near the 45 mile marker. The fatalities included a father, mother and 7-year-old daughter.
According to Sgt. M.T. Conroy of the Virginia State Police, the victims were William Walter Smith, 33, of Hamilton, Ontario; his wife, Sandra Anne Smith, 35; and their daughter, Kayleigh Jane Smith.
Conroy said the father was operating a Dodge Durango pulling a 35-foot camper and headed southbound on the interstate around 7 p.m. He apparently lost control of the vehicle, crossed the median and hit a northbound tractor-trailer rig head on, the sergeant said.
Two of the Smiths’ other daughters were injured. One was airlifted to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, and the other was transported by ground to the same hospital. Their conditions were unknown at press time.
Conroy said the truck driver was not injured.
The northbound lanes, Sgt. Conroy said, were closed for several hours while the wreckage was removed. He noted traffic was rerouted off the interstate onto Rt. 52 until around midnight.
Thursday’s fatalities bring the count to six for Wythe County so far this year.
In another wreck, a trip to a music festival in Alabama ended Wednesday for four Pennsylvania residents with the sound of screeching tires and breaking glass, police said. The two-vehicle crash occurred around 11:40 a.m. Wednesday at Exit 40 of Interstate 77 near Wytheville.
According to police, Leah Pharr, 22, of Aliquippa, Pa., was traveling southbound in a 1997 Ford Explorer. As she changed lanes, Pharr struck a 2004 Kenworth tractor-trailer rig operated by Douglas Rowland, 52, of Vanleer, Tenn.
The Explorer spun out, struck a guardrail and overturned, Conroy said. One of the three passengers, the sergeant noted, was ejected from the vehicle.
Conroy reported all the occupants of the Explorer were taken to Wythe County Community Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. He said the tractor-trailer driver was not injured.
The Explorer, he said, was demolished by the accident. The tractor-trailer rig has minor damage, Conroy stated.
Pharr was charged with reckless driving for failure to maintain control of her vehicle, according to Conroy.
In an unrelated accident, three Wythe County teenagers were injured in a single-vehicle accident Tuesday on Ivanhoe Road (Route 94), according to the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office. One of the juveniles was Med-flighted to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, another was flown to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., while the third was treated at Wythe County Community Hospital.
Chief Deputy Keith Dunagan said the juvenile operating the car ran off the road, overcorrected, crossed the road and slammed into a tree. The other two juveniles were passengers, he stated.
Dunagan said he didn’t know the condition of the three juveniles. He noted the crash is under investigation.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .