Keavy woman dies after slamming truck into tree on KY 312 Sunday

A Keavy woman died from the injuries she sustained when her pickup truck slammed into a tree Sunday night.

According to witnesses, Nancy Salzar, 49, who lives on Mill Creek Road in Keavy, was traveling east on Ky. 312 about 6 p.m. when she ran off the road, scraped by one tree and then slammed into another.

Despite the fact that the truck, a Dodge Dakota, was a 1998 model, emergency personnel noted the airbags did not deploy.

"She was wearing seat belts, but the vehicle had been worked on and, for whatever reason, the airbag did not deploy," said Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, the department’s public affairs officer.

Keavy Firefighters established a landing zone for a helicopter in a nearby clearing and a helicopter was brought in. The decision was made to take Salzar to St. Joseph-London for treatment to stabilize her condition. Acciardo said emergency personnel had to resuscitate Salzar at least once while en route to St. Joseph.

Salzar was then taken by helicopter to the University of Kentucky Medical Center but Acciardo said she died while en route and was pronounced dead on arrival by the Fayette County Coroner’s Office.

Ky. 312 between Mill Creek Estates and the west side of Rooks Branch Road was closed to traffic as emergency personnel worked to clear the scene.

Laurel County Sheriff’s deputies, Keavy Volunteer Fire Department, Ambulance Inc. of Laurel County and the London/Laurel County Rescue Squad responded to the scene.