Four children, three adults killed in New York crash involving tractor trailer, minivan

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

12 years ago

Law enforcement officials work the scene of a fatal car crash along near Truxton, N.Y., Thursday. Four children under the age of 10 and three adults in their early 20s were killed and one man was injured when their minivan was hit by a runaway trailer.

—AP

TRUXTON, N.Y. — Authorities in upstate New York have identified the seven people killed when their van collided with a runaway trailer carrying crushed cars.

The accident Wednesday night claimed the lives of 26-year-old Teresa Bush and her two daughters, 4-year-old Alexis and 5-year-old Jasmine. Also killed were 21-year-old Lena Beckwith, 24-year-old Carino Vanorden, 7-year-old Alyssa Mead and 4-year-old Tyler Mead.

Shawn Mead, the father of the two Mead children, was transported to Upstate University Hospital where he was in good condition.

Police say the accident happened when a trailer hauling junked cars in Truxton separated from the truck that was pulling it and smashed into the van. Truxton is about 25 miles south of Syracuse.

The force of the impact ripped the minivan apart, and both vehicles came to rest on the shoulder of the roadway.

“It was a bad accident,” Capt. Mark Helms of the Cortland County Sheriff’s Department said.

Officials have not released the identities of those killed, but all of them were passengers in the minivan. Two people in the truck were not injured, Helms said.

Officials did not say what caused the accident.

The National Weather Service in Binghamton said there were thunderstorms and steady showers – including hail – in the area around Truxton Wednesday evening.

Cortland County Coroner Whitney Meeker confirmed seven people died in the crash. She said there was one survivor who was taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. The condition of the survivor was not immediately known.

Meeker said it will probably take the next two days to complete autopsies. She said next of kin would be notified early Thursday at the Cortland County Sheriff’s office. She said children were among the deceased.

Douglas Randall, the fire commissioner for nearby Town of Cuyler, said he was directing traffic about a mile north of the crash site when he saw what he believed to be distraught family members being escorted away from the scene.

“They were all meeting down the road at a family member’s house,” he said. “They were all hysterical.”