Authorities ID two Wichita State students who died in southeast Wichita car collision
Two people died after they were thrown from a vehicle that left the roadway early Wednesday in southeast Wichita.
Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a vehicle collision call at 2:28 a.m. in the 6200 block of East Pawnee, near the Cessna Aircraft plant, sheriff’s Lt. Nathan Gibbs said.
Deputies arrived and found two cars in a ditch. Investigators learned that the vehicles were westbound on Pawnee from Woodlawn when for unknown reasons the 2013 silver Lexus GS350 left the road, struck a utility poll, overturned and ejected all three occupants, Gibbs said.
The rear passenger, 19-year-old Carol Chakra, died at the scene. The front passenger, 19-year-old Lian Awadi, was taken to a local hospital where she later died from her injuries. Both women lived in Wichita and were students at Wichita State University, Gibbs said in an email.
The driver of the Lexus, a 20-year-old man from Wichita, was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released.
The other vehicle, a 2013 Lexus ES250, was not involved in the crash. The sheriff’s office said the occupants of both vehicles knew each other, and think that speed was likely a factor in the crash.
Investigators are working to learn what led to the crash. Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to call the sheriff’s office patrol division at 316-660-3760.
