Oklahoma women killed in fiery crash on Kansas turnpike identified

Two women from Oklahoma who were killed in a fiery crash on the Kansas Turnpike in south Wichita on Tuesday night have been identified, according to the Kansas Turnpike Authority.

Lori Uchiyama, 38, of Blackwell and her passenger, 33-year-old Elizabeth Goodno of Ponca City, were driving north on the turnpike at about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday when their Pontiac G-6 was hit by a Ford F-150 south of the exit for 47th Street South. Uchiyama and Goodno died at the scene.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported late Tuesday night that the driver of the Ford pickup, identified by the turnpike authority as 65-year-old Donald Fifer Jr. of Haysville, may have suffered a medical condition that left him disoriented. He was driving the wrong way, authorities said.

The pickup was driving south in the inside lane of northbound lanes when it struck the Pontiac G-6. The Pontiac struck a guardrail and overturned. The pickup slid into the outside lane and caught fire.

Fifer was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The northbound lanes of the turnpike were closed for several hours after the collision.

This story was originally published April 15, 2014 at 10:08 PM with the headline "Oklahoma women killed in fiery crash on Kansas turnpike identified."