Fatal collision is investigated

HARVARD, Neb. — Clay County authorities are investigating a fatal collision at a rural intersection near Harvard in southern Nebraska.

A dispatcher for the Clay County sheriff’s department said Monday there was no indication that alcohol use was involved.

She said the collision occurred a little before 5:30 p.m. Friday about a mile west of Harvard.

Fifty-four-year-old Laura Swarts of Harvard was a passenger in a pickup and was ejected when it struck a semitrailer. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The pickup driver, 59-year-old Lloyd Kelly of Clay Center, was taken to a Hastings hospital. A hospital spokeswoman said Kelly was in stable condition on Monday.

The dispatcher said she had no injury information on the semitrailer driver.