Beadle County, S.D.- A construction zone worker died Tuesday from injuries sustained in a two-vehicle crash two miles east of Wessington, SD.
Preliminary crash information indicates Tiburcio Gonzalez Jr, the driver of a 2022 Dodge Ram, was traveling westbound on US Highway 14 near mile marker 319 and entered a construction zone. Sandra Guerra Ceballos, a construction worker ‘Flagger,’ was on on-scene directing westbound traffic to slow down and stop. Gonzalez had stopped as directed. As Eric James Kunkel, the driver of a 2023 International MV607, approached from the same direction, he collided with the Dodge, and then struck Ceballos.
Ms. Ceballos suffered fatal injuries. The two drivers and a passenger in the 2022 Dodge Ram, Jose Gabriel Mendoza Naba, sustained minor injuries and were transported to a nearby hospital.
The South Dakota Highway Patrol is investigating the crash. All information released so far is only preliminary.
The Highway Patrol is an agency of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.
What: Two vehicle and pedestrian fatal crash
Where: US Highway 14, mile marker 319, two miles east of Wessington, SD
When: 12:55 p.m., Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Vehicle 1: 2023 International MV607
Driver 1: Eric James Kunkel, 47-year-old male from Mitchell, SD, minor injuries
Seatbelt Use: Under investigation
Vehicle 2: 2022 Dodge Ram
Driver 2: Tiburcio Gonzalez Jr, 27-year-old male from Mathis, TX, minor injuries
Seatbelt Use: Under investigation
Passenger 1: Jose Gabriel Mendoza Naba, 32 year-old male from Mathis, TX, minor injuries
Seatbelt Use: Under investigation
Pedestrian/Construction Flagger: Sandra Guerra Ceballos, 44-year-old female from Eddyville, NE, fatal injuries