Denny's sign falls on top of car, killing 1, injuring 2

Damaged car sits on the bed of a tow truck after a Denny's sign fell. (WDRB )

A towering Denny's Restaurant sign in central Kentucky fell on a car during high winds, killing a woman and injuring her husband and daughter.

The sign partially crushed their car when it fell Thursday from a pole near the Denny’s parking lot off Interstate 65 in Elizabethtown.

Lillian Curtis, 72, was in the back seat and suffered a "catastrophic" head wound, her granddaughter Amy Nichols told news outlets. The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office said she died of blunt force injuries.

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Top of where a Denny's sign used to be before it fell on top of a car in Kentucky.  (WDRB )

Lloyd Curtis, riding in the passenger seat, remained hospitalized, and their daughter Mary Graham, who was driving, was released after being treated for chest injuries, Nichols said.

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Police at the scene of a tragic accident after a Denny's sign fell on top of a car, killing one and injuring two.  (WDRB )

They were on their way home to Columbia from Louisville when they pulled off the highway, she said.

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Remnants of a Denny's sign prepared to be towed away. (WDRB )

Elizabethtown Police Detective Chris Denham said intense wind gusts are believed to have contributed to toppling the sign. A crane was brought in to remove it; crews said it weighed about 1.3 tons (1,179 kilograms). It was permitted to be 80 feet (24 meters) off the ground, the News-Enterprise reported.

Wind gusts in the area reached as high as 49 mph on Thursday, the National Weather Service in Louisville said.