One dead, two injured after ambulance involved wreck

SMITH COUNTY – DPS reports one person has died and two were injured after an ambulance was involved in a two-car crash on a rainslick Toll 49 at FM 16. A preliminary investigation indicates the ambulance was northbound on Toll 49 around noon Tuesday when a southbound car lost control, crossing over into the northbound lane and striking the ambulance. The car driver, 51-year-old Laina Wanttie of Mineola, was killed. The driver and passenger in the ambulance sustained what were termed non-life-threatening injuries. According to our news partner KETK, officials with UT Health East Texas have confirmed that it was one of their ambulances involved in the crash.