Cincinnati Crash Kills 4 People
Repo...@home.com
Associated
Press news wire:
Cincinnati Crash Kills 4 People
CINCINNATI (AP) - A tractor-trailer slammed into the rear of a van
carrying a
church youth group, killing four people and injuring 12. The trucker
faces
criminal charges.
Three girls and a man were killed in Thursday afternoon's crash,
according to
the Hamilton County coroner's office. The victims' names were not
released
immediately.
The four were passengers in the van, which was carrying 12 children and
four
adults from Eternal Life Harvest Center church in Knoxville, Tenn. Ten
other
passengers and the driver were injured.
Clayton Kuehn, of Cadiz, Ky., was driving the truck that triggered the
multiple-vehicle, rush-hour crash on Interstate 275 north of Cincinnati,
authorities said. He pleaded innocent today to multiple counts of
involuntary
manslaughter and aggravated vehicular assault, and bond was set at $1
million.
The sheriff's office said Kuehn's truck struck the van and a pickup
truck,
whose driver also was injured. Those vehicles then hit another
tractor-trailer,
deputies said.
The van was so crushed by the impact that firefighters had to cut it in
half to
free its occupants, said Sycamore Township Fire Chief Bill Jetter.
``The people in the van were on top of each other,'' Jetter said.
Five victims remained hospitalized today in either fair or good
condition and
seven were treated and released.
AP-NY-08-06-99
---------------------------------------------------
Cincinnati crash kills four, truck driver charged
The Associated Press
08/06/99
CINCINNATI (AP) -- The driver of a tractor-trailer flatbed truck has
been
charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and five counts of
aggravated vehicular assault following a crash that killed four people.
Clayton Kuehn, of Cadiz, Ky., was driving the truck that triggered a
multiple-vehicle, rush-hour crash Thursday on Interstate 275 just north
of
Cincinnati, authorities said.
The Hamilton County sheriff's office said Kuehn's truck struck the rear
of a
van carrying 12 children and four adults from a youth church group from
Eternal
Life Harvest Center church in Knoxville, Tenn., and then struck a pickup
truck.
Those two vehicles then struck a semi-tractor rig, deputies said.
All four of the victims were passengers in the Tennessee van, officials
said.
Their names were not released.
The accident occurred near the Montgomery interchange just before 5 p.m.
The
van was so crushed by the impact that firefighters had to cut it in half
to
free its occupants, said Sycamore Township Fire Chief Bill Jetter.
"The people in the van were on top of each other," Jetter said. "We had
to cut
seats out, actually take the van in half."
One person was in critical condition Thursday night, one in serious
condition,
seven were listed in fair condition and three were treated and released,
authorities said.
Westbound I-275 was closed about three hours following the crash, and
eastbound
traffic was restricted. Cleanup crews were still on the scene six hours
later.
---------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 8/6/99 online edition of The
Cincinnati
Post newspaper:
4 killed in I-275 collision
Post staff report
Four people, including three children, were killed and a dozen other
people
injured when a tractor-trailer truck rammed the rear of a van carrying
15
people on Interstate-275 near the Montgomery Road exit Thursday
afternoon.
The tractor-trailer driver, who was charged with involuntary
manslaughter, hit
a pickup truck after his rig pushed the van aside. Three girls, ranging
in age
from about 11 to 16, and a man believed to be in his 30s, were killed,
according to the Hamilton County coroner's office. Names of the victims
were
not released.
The van and pickup truck were propelled into the rear of a second
tractor-trailer, making it a four-vehicle collision.
'It was a pretty severe scene,'' said Sycamore Township Fire Department
Capt.
Ivan Kuehn. ''Several people were trapped in the van and had to be cut
out.''
The van was carrying youth group members from Eternal Life Harvest
Center in
Knoxville, Tenn. The group was on a two-day outing to Paramount's Kings
Island,
said April Wimbley, 17, who would have made the trip had her work
schedule
permitted.
''They've been planning this trip for two years. They finally get to go,
and
now this,'' Ms. Wimbley said. ''It's shocking - all these people we
know.''
The 4:53 p.m. accident shut down all west-bound lanes of I-275 for three
hours
and caused a long traffic backup as vehicles were slowly detoured from
the
interstate onto Montgomery Road.
The wrecked vehicles, which were all in the westbound lanes of the
interstate,
wound up directly underneath the Montgomery Road overpass.
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office investigators said tractor-trailer
driver
Clayton Kuehn, 40, of Cadiz, Ky., failed to maintain an assured clear
distance
and struck the rear of the van. He is not related to the Sycamore
Township fire
captain who responded to the accident.
The four people killed in the accident were passengers in the van. The
10 other
van passengers and driver suffered injuries and were treated at
Children's,
Jewish and Good Samaritan hospitals.
Kuehn, who was not injured, was charged with four counts of involuntary
manslaughter and five counts of aggravated vehicular assault.
The van, a 1995 Ford Clubwagon driven by Danita Goodman, 33, of
Knoxville, had
Tennessee license plates and was registered to the University of
Tennessee.
''Danita is my godmama,'' Ms. Wembley said early this morning from her
Knoxville home. ''Precious Stone is the name of the youth group, for
young
teenagers. Everyone here is calling around, just asking each other to
pray for
them.''
A Ford Ranger pickup truck involved in the accident was driven by Brian
Ruswinkle, 18, of Roswell, Ga., who was injured and treated at Bethesda
North
Hospital.
The tractor-trailer that was hit by the van and pickup truck was driven
by
Robert Connelly, 45, of Deland, Fla., who was not injured.
Names of the other victims were not immediately released.
Sycamore Fire Department Chief Bill Jetter said some van passengers were
thrown
out of the vehicle and others were trapped inside.
''Some people were on the pavement and some were on top of each other in
the
van,'' said Jetter. ''We had to cut the van in half and cut the seats
out of
the van.''
Three people were released Thursday night from Jewish Hospital after
being
treated for minor injuries. Another injured person remained overnight at
Jewish
Hospital and was listed in good condition.
About seven hours before the accident, Sycamore Township firefighters
and
emergency medical technicians had helped 34 youngsters who suffered
minor
injuries in chain-reaction bus accident on I-275 not far from the late
afternoon crash.
''It's something you just don't walk away from,'' Jetter said of the
firefighters' anguish. ''It was a busy and emotional day.''
Publication date: 08-06-99
-----------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 8/6/99 online edition of The
Knoxville
News-Sentinel newspaper:
4 children killed, 12 injured in wreck of Knox van
August 6, 1999
By Nellann Young, News-Sentinel staff writer
Four children were killed and 12 people were injured Thursday when a van
from
Knoxville was struck by a flatbed trailer in Cincinnati, authorities
said.
The van was carrying 12 children and four adults from Eternal Life
Harvest
Center church on Western Avenue. The group was going to Paramount's
King's
Island theme park for a summer trip before school started.
The van was traveling westbound on Interstate 275 in Sycamore Township
when it
was hit by a Melton Trucking Co. flatbed trailer driven by Clayton Kuehn
of
Cadiz, Ky., said Sgt. Walt Hendrick of the Hamilton County Sheriff's
Department. The flatbed trailer knocked the van out of its way and then
struck
a Ford pickup, Hendrick said. Both the van and the truck then hit a
tractor-trailer.
"Oh my God, this is a tragedy," said a spokesman of the Melton Trucking
Co.,
The Cincinnati Post reported.
Kuehn reportedly sent the company a computer message quickly after the
wreck
that said, "Send help, send people, there may be people dead here," said
WCPO,
Channel 9, in Cincinnati.
Kuehn, driver of the flatbed trailer, was charged with four counts of
involuntary manslaughter and five counts of aggravated vehicular
assault.
The driver of the pickup truck was injured. He was identified as Brian
Ruswinkle, 18, of Roswell, Ga.
April Wimbley, 17, a member of the interdenominational Knoxville church,
said
she wanted to go on the trip but she had to work Thursday at a fast-food
restaurant. April, who will be a junior at Austin-East High School, said
her
three sisters -- 11, 12 and 15 years of age -- were supposed to make the
trip
but overslept Thursday morning.
When her sisters heard about the wreck Thursday evening, they were
"devastated"
and "scared," April said.
The driver of the van was identified as Danita Goodman, 33, of
Knoxville. April
said Goodman is her godmother. Goodman was believed to be in good
condition.
The injured included two children -- a 13-year-old girl and a
15-year-old girl
from Knoxville -- who were admitted to Bethesda North Hospital in
Cincinnati.
The identities of the children, who are in fair condition, were not
available.
Four girls, who all were from Tennessee, were taken to Children's
Hospital and
also were listed in fair condition. Their identities also were not
available.
A 14-year-old girl from Tennessee was in good condition at another local
hospital. Other Tennessee victims who were in fair or good condition
were a
42-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman.
The wreck was being investigated by the Hamilton County Sheriff's
Department.
Authorities have not released the identities of the dead children. The
bodies
of two girls who were killed in the wreck were taken to University
Hospital in
Cincinnati.
The wreck occurred about 4:53 p.m. on westbound I-275, the loop around
Cincinnati.
Authorities said the license plate on the van is registered to the
University
of Tennessee. UT officials did not have any information late Thursday on
the
van.
The van was so crushed by the impact that firefighters had to cut it
open to
free its occupants, said Sycamore Township Fire Chief Bill Jetter.
"It's something you just don't walk away from," Jetter said of the
firefighters' anguish. "It was a busy and emotional day."
Westbound I-275 was closed because of the crash, and eastbound traffic
was
restricted for several hours.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.