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A medical event may have contributed to the death of 77-year-old Kenneth T. Leys of Albany in a single-vehicle accident about 7:30 a.m. Monday on Highway 20 near Corvallis.

Benton County Undersheriff Greg Ridler said that witnesses saw the man’s vehicle, a red 2012 Chevrolet Cruze, moving erratically on the highway before it went off the roadway at a high rate of speed at about milepost 2 and landed in the Willamette River. The 2012 passenger vehicle struck a tree before going into the water, where it was partially submerged.

The accident occurred in an area where there is no guard rail. It is about a half-mile away from where a Brownsville woman died in a similar accident a week ago.

A witness immediately called 911.

Multiple public safety agencies rushed to the scene in an attempt to locate survivors, including the Benton County Marine Patrol, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, Corvallis and Albany fire departments, the Corvallis Police Department and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Highway 20 was closed for more than three hours while the crash was investigated.

Authorities said there is no indication that alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash.

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