Five injured after accident on Paris Road

Don Zike prepares to pull a Cadillac Escalade onto the bed of his tow truck after the Columbia Police Department and the Columbia Fire Department ordered it cleared from the scene of a crash involving a pickup truck and this SUV on Paris Road by the off-ramp from U.S. 63 on Monday. Five people were injured in the crash. The two in critical condition were sent to University Hospital and the others were sent to Boone Hospital Center.   ¦  David Kennedy

COLUMBIA — Five people were taken to nearby hospitals after a crash involving two vehicles Monday morning on Paris Road near the on-ramp onto northbound U.S. 63.

The Columbia Fire Department was nearby after being called to the COLT Railroad overpass. According to a news release, personnel arrived at the scene in less than one minute.

One person seemed to have been ejected from a Dodge Ram, which was pulling a flat bed trailer, while the other needed to be extricated from the vehicle.

The three people in the second vehicle, a Cadillac Escalade, received only minor injuries.

Two people who sustained critical injuries were taken to University Hospital, while the others with lesser injuries were transported to Boone County Hospital, said Battalion Chief Gary Warren, Jr.

It was unclear what caused the accident.