Editor’s note: This article was updated with new information Thursday.
BUCKHANNON — An 84-year-old man who was seriously injured in a wreck at the intersection of U.S. Route 33 and Kesling Mill Road Tuesday afternoon is in good condition, according to a spokesperson at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown.
Ben R. Elbon, of Standardsville, Virginia, was taken by HealthNet to Ruby Memorial Hospital after suffering incapacitating injuries in a two-vehicle wreck that happened at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 27, at the dangerous intersection. By late Wednesday afternoon, WVU Medicine’s corporate director of media relations and public affairs, Angela Jones-Knopf, verified that Elbon was in good condition but remained at the hospital.
The wreck happened when Elbon, who was driving a gray Hyundai Santa Fe, was traveling east on Route 33, and a red Toyota Tundra pick-up, driven by Elizabeth A. Henline, 34, of Weston, attempted to cross Route 33 from the Kesling Mill Road, but failed to see Elbon’s vehicle and pulled into its path. Elbon’s vehicle struck the red pick-up truck in the front end, exited the roadway and landed on its side, according to the report submitted by Upshur County Sheriff Virgil Miller, the investigating officer.
Miller wrote that Henline crossed the westbound lane from Kesling Mill Road but “did not stop behind crossing the eastbound lane.” While Elbon was life-flighted to Morgantown, his 91-year-old female passenger, Beatrice Ciancio, was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital for treatment by Upshur EMS. Ciancio suffered non-incapacitating injuries, the report says.
Henline, the driver of the truck; a 36-year-old male passenger; and a five-year-old female passenger were not injured in the wreck. Miller cited Henline with failure to yield at an intersection.
This is at least the second wreck at the deadly intersection since the West Virginia Division of Highways announced earlier in April that it plans to install traffic signals at Route 33’s intersections with Childers Run and Kesling Mill roads.
