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An elderly man is dead and a woman was hospitalized with severe injuries after a major accident at U.S. Highway 59 at Townsen around 1:30 p.m. July 24.

“We received a call about a red minivan driving southbound in the northbound lanes of Highway 59,” said Accident Investigator Bryan Waldroup of the Humble Police Department. “A minute later, we got another call that the minivan had hit an oncoming black sedan going the right way on Highway 59.”

Waldroup said the 79-year-old driver of the older model minivan was dead at the scene. The woman was transported via Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital downtown. Her injuries did not appear to be life threatening according to initial medical assessments at the scene.

Police have not released the names of the victims.

Waldroup said it is unknown for how long the elderly driver was traveling against traffic or what caused him to do so.

“We may never be able to find out,” Waldroup said, adding that underlying medical conditions, physically or mentally, could possibly have contributed to the accident. “Further information is pending a report by the medical examiner’s office.”

The accident and the resulting investigation caused a traffic gridlock on and around Highway 59 for several hours. All lanes of traffic were closed for more than four hours, forcing afternoon and evening commuters to find alternate routes into the Humble, Kingwood and East Montgomery County areas.