Mail Tribune News - Wreck sends three to hospital

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2001-01-26

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Wreck sends three to hospital Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming An Oregon State Police trooper looks over the wreckage of a Subaru Legacy station wagon that crashed head-on Friday afternoon into a tractor-trailer rig. The wreck occurred on Interstate 5 near Valley of the Rogue State Park. The driver of the car and the two people in the semi were hospitalized.   By Shari Downhill Three people remain hospitalized after a head-on collision between a station wagon and a tractor-trailer rig on Interstate 5 near Valley of the Rogue State Park. The accident closed both southbound I-5 lanes for about a half-hour. Oregon State Police identified the driver of the green 1998 Subaru Legacy station wagon as Marilyn Nersesian, 55, of Eugene. Nersesian was taken by ambulance to Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass, where she remains in stable condition. The driver of the semi was identified as Kulwant Nijjar, 31, and a passenger riding in the semi as Sultan Thiara, 34, both of California. Both men were taken by ambulance to Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford, where Nijjar remains in critical condition and Thiara remains in fair condition. The accident occurred about 4 p.m. Friday, when Nersesian reportedly fell asleep while driving north on I-5 and lost control of the vehicle, according to Oregon State Police Sgt. William Floyd. Nersesian reportedly drove onto the grassy median. Trying to drive back into the northbound lane, Nersesian overcorrected, re-entered and crossed over the median, traveling north in southbound traffic. OSP reports indicate Nersesian crossed the southbound fast lane and collided head-on with the semi operated by Salem-based May Trucking Co., leaving luggage and personal belongings scattered along the roadway. The station wagon came to rest in the median. The accident remains under investigation; no citations have been issued.   Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.