Yesterday afternoon around 4 P.M. a Utah State University van carrying 11 passengers rolled over on Interstate 84 just west of Tremonton, Utah. The single van was on its way back from a school field trip during USU’s annual Ag Week. Eight of the passengers, including the teacher Mr. Evan Parker, died at the scene or were pronounced dead by the time they reached the hospitals. Two Life Flight helicopters were dispatched with two of the remaining survivors to Ogden Regional Hospital. The other survivor was rushed to Brigham City Community Hospital. All of the survivors are in critical condition at this time.
Not much is known about what happened with the crash of the van. Kyle Holden, who was with the group on the field trip, but in a separate vehicle, was just passing when the van swerved out of control. A large amount of smoke supposedly came from the back of the van just before the van started swerving back and forth and then rolled three to four times before sliding off the side of the road. All occupants were thrown out of the van.
Lt. Jason Jensen of the Utah Highway Patrol was the first officer to respond and was only approximately a half mile away when the crash occurred. His preliminary reports seem to indicate the vehicle was traveling approximately 95 miles per hour, but we’ll have to wait for a federal investigation to take place before they know for sure. He stated that “All personnel were ejected” and that there seemed to be “No evidence of seatbelt usage.”
Utah State University President Stan L. Albrecht gave a press conference stating that this was a “Great tragedy” and that there would be a later announcement concerning any memorials or special services to be held for the deceased. The families involved with the accident are still being notified and a list of the deceased and injured will be released at a later date and time out of respect for the deceased. All 11 occupants were male and in the AgSystems major and this was on official university field trip.
All possible scenarios are trying to be worked on to find out just what exactly occurred with the wreck. But until the federal investigation is completed there are only thoughts and ideas on just what could have happened. Mr. Evan Parker had told Kyle Holden just recently that this was “A good group of students; one of the best that he’d ever had.” Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who lost someone they loved.
3 comments:
Take the following comments with my disclaimer that I have never done anything like this before:
The strength of your article lies in your use of quotes. Not only are they accurate. They are used effectively. Also, the tone that you take is informative.
I would advise you to be somewhat more concise and further divide the article into smaller paragraphs.
C. D Clawson
This is a really good news article. You didn't leave any of the information out. It is amazing how you can tell the difference in writing when you have a day to write a story rather then only 15 minutes.
good job on this article. I know this is the first one you did and I can see that you have greatly improved, however your start was good to begin with!
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