By The Hays Daily News

With the death of an 81-year-old Ness City man, a Saturday crash along U.S. Highway 183 now is being labeled a triple fatality accident by the Kansas Highway Patrol.

A spokesman for the Kansas Highway Patrol on Tuesday confirmed the death of Warren H. Hall as a result of the injuries he sustained in the crash.

Hall's death follows those of his wife, Mary Lou Hall, 79, also of Ness City, and 25-year-old Matthew John Cooksey, Oakley.

The Halls were the occupants of one of two vehicles that collided head-on late Saturday night on the Smoky Hill River Bridge approximately 10 miles south of Hays near Schoenchen.

Cooksey was a passenger in the second vehicle and was not wearing a seat belt, according to a KHP report.

The other occupants in that vehicle, 18-year-old driver Kayde Sue Malcom, Gove, and Bruce Leon Britton, 50, Oakley, were airlifted to Wichita after the crash and still are receiving treatment for their injuries.

A spokesperson for the Via Christi Wichita Health Network said today that Malcom still is listed in serious condition, while Britton is in fair condition.

No new details of the crash or what might have caused it are available at this time, KHP Public Resource Officer Allan Lytton said.