(Updated 8/17 11:34am)

The Council Bluffs Police Department said today an accident on Interstate 29 this (Friday) morning, resulted in a separate crash moments later. The first accident happened on I-29 at around 7:44-am. near mile marker 53 (or, near the 9th Avenue exit). Emergency crews arriving on the scene discovered the driver, 25-year old Rachel Nelson, of Council Bluffs, had been ejected from her 1996 Ford Explorer during the crash. The woman was critically injured. A passenger in the SUV, 23-year old Lisa Poulsen, and Nelson’s two children, were all transported to the Nebraska Medical Center.

The two children were treated and release from the hospital, while Poulson was expected to be released later. Authorities say Nelson’s SUV was behind a 2001 Ford Ranger pickup driven by 41-year old Dennis Sullivan, of Council Bluffs, when an aluminum ladder fell out of the pickup. Nelson swerved to avoid the ladder, and over-corrected, causing the SUV to slide sideways off the road to right before it rolled into a ditch. On Sunday, August 16th Dennis Sullivan was cited for Failure to Secure Load/Spilling on Highway. This violation carries a fine of $330.

A second crash in nearly the same area happened almost 15-minutes later (just before 8-a.m.). Authorities say several vehicles which had stopped to help at the scene had parked their vehicles on the interstate roadway. Another vehicle struck two of the parked vehicles. No injuries were reported in the second crash. Due to severity of the first accident and the second accident, it was decided to close Interstate 29 southbound, from Interstate 480 eastbound for the safety of persons on scene and motorists in the area.