A Harveyville man escaped injury as part of a chain-reaction crash that killed a Manhattan woman in Topeka on Wednesday.
The Kansas Highway Patrol says the wreck involved seven vehicles and developed on Interstate 70 near the Southwest Topeka Boulevard exit shortly after 4:15 pm. An eastbound semi driven by 38-year-old Jesse Vannoy of Knob Noster, Missouri, had its load securing mechanism fail while in transit. The load of large metal pipes then spilled out, with some going over a concrete barrier into westbound traffic.
A pipe hit a car driven by 54-year-old Bruce Bowers of Harveyville. However, a car driven by 29-year-old Brooke Rees of Manhattan had a pipe land on top of her car, which was also hit by at least one vehicle. Rees was pronounced dead at the scene.
Nobody else was hurt in the crash.
