Crash alert: Woman dies in crash after hay bale falls off semi near Duncan

COLUMBUS, NE – A driver was killed in an accident that occurred in Platte County Friday morning, the Grand Island Independent reports.

According to the Platte County Sheriff’s Office, 58-year-old Lerae Ahlers was driving a Lincoln Continental east on U.S. Highway 30 near 355th Avenue west of Duncan at about 11:11 a.m.   At the same time, 25-year-old Layne Laska was driving westbound in a Peterbilt semitrailer carrying cornstalk bales.

Investigators said that when the vehicles met, a bale fell off the trailer being pulled by the semi and landed on the Lincoln, causing the car to go off the road and into a field on the side of the highway.  Ahlers, a Central City resident, was pronounced dead at the scene.  Laska was not injured.

Portions of Highway 30 were shut down for about four hours while the scene was being cleared.  Alcohol was not believed to have been a factor in the incident, which is being investigated by the Platte County Sheriff’s Office and the Nebraska State Patrol.

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