Collision hospitalizes two women

MELROSE — A collision Tuesday night hospitalized two women, according to a news release from the Curry County sheriff.

Deputies responded about 8:30 p.m., soon after the crash occurred five miles east of Melrose on U.S. 60/84.

A sheriff’s department news release stated:

• Othena Smith, 61, of Clovis, was driving eastbound in a 2016 Ford passenger vehicle and collided with a westbound truck driven by Edwin Mateo, 61, of Earlimart, California, after she “crossed left of center.”

• Two helicopters came to the scene but one was grounded after landing due to mechanical problems. Smith was airlifted first to Plains Regional Medical Center and then to a hospital in Lubbock where she was in critical condition Wednesday.

• Smith’s passenger Sue Stockly, 61, of Clovis, was brought to Clovis airport by ambulance and flown to a Lubbock hospital from which she has since released.

• Mateo was not injured.