Two crashes in Iowa on Sunday claimed two lives. The Iowa State Patrol reports a single-vehicle accident in southern Iowa’s Decatur County resulted in the death of the driver of the vehicle. 45-year-old Luke Neil Helton, of Leon, died during the crash that happened at around 2-p.m. Authorities say Helton was driving a 20111 Chevy 1500 pickup southbound on 253rd Avenue, just south of 217th Street, when he became unconscious due to unknown medical conditions. The pickup left the road and crashed through a fence, and ended up in a pond. The accident was discovered by the property owner. Helton died at the scene.

The second crash involved a 2009 Mercury Mariner SUV. It happened at around 6:22-a.m. Sunday, in northwest Iowa’s Sioux County. The Patrol says the vehicle was traveling westbound on B-40, when it left the road for reasons unknown. The SUV entered the north ditch, vaulted a culvert and struck an embankment before coming to rest. The driver of the vehicle, 25-year-old Felipe Reyes Lopez-Lopez, of Rock Valley, died at the scene.

His passengers, 32-year-old Marco Vinco Lopez-Lopez, and a three-year old female, both of Rock Valley, were injured, and transported by Sioux Center Ambulance to the hospital in Sioux Center. before being flown to the hospital in Sioux Falls. The child was not properly restrained in the vehicle. Marco Lopez-Lopez was wearing his seat belt. The Patrol says alcohol is suspected to be a contributing factor to the crash.

And, a man from Des Moines suffered multiple injuries during an accident Saturday afternoon, in southern Madison County. The State Patrol reports 52-year-old Sefering Benavides was driving a 2022 Ford Explorer eastbound on the Cumming Highway, when the SUV veered off the road, went down an embankment, and struck some trees. The accident happened at around 1:15-p.m. Benevides, who was not wearing a seat belt, was transported to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines for treatment of his injuries. Multiple charges against him are pending.