A truckdriver escaped injury when his tractor-trailer was struck by a bowling ball dropped from an overpass over I-80 about 2 a.m. Friday.

A spokeswoman for Troop C of the Nebraska State Patrol said the incident occurred at the Phillips, NE, interchange at mile marker 318, about six miles east of Grand Island, NE.

Meanwhile, a second bowling ball thrown from the same overpass struck a van, crashing through the windshield and injuring two women inside. Media reports placed the van just behind the truck on the highway.

The first bowling ball crashed through the passenger-side windshield of the truck, but missed driver Ernest Kearney, who drives for Swift.

The women were taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island, The Associated Press reported, where one was treated and released and the other is being treated for a fractured jaw.

The women's injures are "not life threatening," another State Patrol spokeswoman, Terri Teuber, told The AP. However, she added, "The parties involved in this incident are very lucky they didn't kill anyone."

No arrests have been made, and state patrol officials say they have no leads. Capt. Gerard Ruiz, commander of State Patrol Troop C in Grand Island, said he was not sure whether the act was planned or a random act of vandalism - or if the act was likely to be repeated.

"I would ask that the truckers be aware of individuals on these overpasses," Ruiz said, including people standing on the bridges or cars parked along them. "That's not normally where you would see them."

Any truckers who see something suspicious on I-80 or other overpasses, or who have information about the incident, are encouraged to call the State Patrol's hotline, 1-800-525-5555, Ruiz said.

-Mark H. Reddig