3 CHILDREN RESCUED, 2 ADULTS DEAD FOLLOWING ST. TAMMANY BOATING ACCIDENT IN LOUISIANA

MARCH 28, 2015

ST. TAMMANY PARISH, LOUISIANA (WVUE)

Firefighters with St. Tammany Fire District #9 along with Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries agents are investigating a boating accident involving two adults and three children. The incident occurred Saturday at 5:29 p.m. on the Pearl River Canal near Bush.

A St. Tammany Fire official says the ages of the children are: 5, 6 and 8. All three children were wearing their life preservers at the time of the incident.

Officials say that a 16-year-old boy who was fishing in the area at the time of the accident immediately jumped in and saved two of the children. He then grabbed the t-shirt of the woman who was holding onto the third child, before the woman and child were taken away by a current. The child was found alive underneath the overturned boat a short time later.

Wildlife and Fishery crews continue to search for the missing man and woman. The children were brought to a local hospital as a precaution.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

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BUSH, LOUISIANA

Rescue crews are continuing their search for 31-year-old Jonie Morgan. Saturday evening the 14-foot boat she was on with 41-year-old Terry O'Keefe and her three children capsized in the Pearl River.

"All I can figure, she got to close to the waterfall and it sucked her right down," said 16-year-old Leyton Page.

Page said he forgot his hunting gear at his camp site, which forced him to go back. That's when he ran into the accident scene of the capsized boat and jumped into action.

"I didn't think anything of it. I was just going to help them pull it out, but as I got closer I saw there was three heads sticking out and one body already rolling around, caught in the current," Page said.

As Page attempted to help the family, he also capsized.

"I got under that waterfall and it sucked me straight down," he said. "Luckily I found a rope to my boat and pulled myself back up, and I made sure I kept the boat between me and the seal so I didn't get sucked back down. I held onto it with one hand and paddled over to them, and the two boys, they climbed on my shoulders and I was holding on to them."

But as Page turned to flagged down help, he "turned back around, and the woman was gone."

Page was able to save the 8- and 6-year-old boys. Thirty minutes later, rescue crews found the 4-year-old girl alive under the boat.

"That was awesome. You don't see kids do that these day, sacrifice themselves for somebody else. You don't really see that much," said Brennan Estopinal, the father of one of the boys involved in the accident.

The body of O'Keefe was found shortly after 8 a.m. As the search continues for Jonie Morgan, rescue crews say to search under water in the area is very difficult.

"It's a hazardous water environment. It's a low head dam," said Lt. Jason Russo of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. "Water runs over the dam, so the water immediately behind it is very turbulent, treacherous waters. It's a leading contributing factor to the accident itself as they went over it."

Source:http://www.wwltv.com

TRUCK CRASHES INTO POLE BRINGING DOWN LIVE WIRES ON MILL AVENUE IN TEMPE, ARIZONA

MARCH 28, 2015

TEMPE, ARIZONA

Police say a pickup truck smashed into a power pole, causing live wires to come crashing to the ground near Mill Avenue in Tempe.  Power was out for a handful of customers, and the electricity is expected to be restored by Noon today.

The crash happened at about 10 o'clock Friday night near Mill and University, according to Tempe Police.  They say the pickup truck crashed into a power pole, cutting off the top of the pole.  The accident caused live electrical lines to come crashing down in a parking lot.

Police say the two people inside the truck walked out of the vehicle, which they say was a dangerous move.  Workers with APS were on the scene working to secure the area and keep it safe from pedestrians as they restore power to a small area.  APS crews have been working through the night to restore power to the area; as of Saturday morning, 31 customers remain without power, and it's expected to be restored by Noon.

Officers say people should never exit a vehicle involved in a crash with electrical lines, but should instead wait for help from fire crews.

Source: www.fox10phoenix.com

TEXAS TRUCK IN DEADLY BRIDGE COLLAPSE DID NOT HAVE PROPER PERMIT SO THAT DMV PROVIDE DRIVERS WITH SAFE ROUTES

MARCH 28, 2015

SALADO, TEXAS (AP)

Regulators say a truck hauling an oversized load did not have the proper permit when the rig snagged an Interstate 35 bridge beam in a deadly Central Texas wreck.
  
The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles reported Friday that the tractor-trailer lacked the proper permit. Special permits are needed for oversized loads so DMV can provide drivers with safe routes.
  
No citations were immediately issued over Thursday's accident in Salado (suh-LAY'-doh). Federal records show Lares Trucking mainly hauls general freight and building materials.
  
The driver of the Lares 18-wheeler and two other people were hurt. Another driver, Clark Brandon Davis of Arlington, was killed.
  
The Texas Department of Transportation says three advisory signs were posted indicating clearance of 13 feet, 6 inches.  DPS officials estimate the oversized truck load was 14 feet, 7 inches.

TWO DEAD AFTER PICKUP TRUCK CRASHES INTO CREEK in MUSKOGEE COUNTY, OKLAHOMA

MARCH 28, 2015

MUSKOGEE COUNTY, OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma Highway Patrol says two people died when their truck crashed and ended up in a southern Muskogee County creek Friday night.

Troopers were called to investigate after a body was found in the truck.

After learning that another person could have been in the truck at the time of the crash, OHP’s Marine Enforcement Division began a search.

A second body was found about a quarter of a mile downstream at 9 a.m. Saturday.

The victims are Emma Reece, a 63-year-old Webbers Falls woman, and Wade Kellogg, a 56-year-old man from Ft. Gibson.

OHP has not released information on what caused the crash.

CAR MAKES IMPROPER LEFT TURN INTO GATE 1 OF USC CAMPUS AND IS STRUCK BY TRAIN. AT LEAST 21 INJURED, 1 GRAVELY, 1 CRITICAL. THE FIRST CAR OF THE TRAIN DERAILED.

MARCH 28, 2015

A vehicle turning onto USC’s campus was struck by an Expo Line train on Exposition Boulevard at 10:48 a.m. on Saturday, leaving 21 injured and two in critical condition.

The car, a Hyundai Sonata, was driving eastbound on Exposition Boulevard and made an improper left turn into Gate 1 of the University Park campus when an eastbound train struck the driver’s side door. The driver of the car was cut out of the vehicle using the jaws of life and transported to California Hospital Medical Center. Officials say the driver is in grave condition.

The train, which was going an average speed of 35 mph, was partially derailed during the collision. Train passengers were evacuated and treated for injuries at the scene. Ten passengers were transported to a hospital, eight with minor injuries. The train operator is in critical condition.

Sophia Ortega, a freshman majoring in communication who lives in the Arts & Humanities Residential College at Parkside, witnessed the crash from her dorm room window.

“I heard a really loud crash, and I looked out my window and saw the first car of the Metro just veer off the track and onto Exposition and a car was totally smashed into the side of the train,” Ortega said. “Then firefighters used jaws of life to take the entire roof of the car off and pull out the driver.”

Exposition Boulevard and Gate 1 have been closed indefinitely.

The collision is under investigation by LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department, which has jurisdiction over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Dept. of Public Safety is assisting with traffic control.

Exposition Park is expecting 50,000 visitors to the area this evening when the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum hosts a soccer match between Mexico and Ecuador. According to Metro Rail Project Coordinator Michael Tomas, Metro will provide buses to bring game attendees the length of the track that is out of service.

Source: dailytrojan.com

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Twenty-one people were injured, one car driver gravely, on Saturday morning after a Metro light-rail train collided with one vehicle near USC, Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said.

The crash was reported about 10:50 a.m. in the 900 block of Exposition Boulevard, near Vermont Avenue, according to Shawn Lenske, spokesman for the LAFD.

Firefighters extricated the driver of the vehicle, who was in grave condition after the incident. The Expo Line train operator was in critical condition. 19 others suffered minor injuries, the Fire Department said.

Ten of the injured, including the driver and train operator, were transported to hospitals, Lenske said.

Officials initially said two vehicles had collided with the train.

Personnel from the police, sheriff’s and fire departments and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority responded to the scene and established a unified command.

The cause of the collision was not immediately known, but we are certain has to do with reckless or careless drivers.  The train can only move along its tracks – it is the car drivers who try to beat the trains or fail to observe the signs or make illegal or improper turns or fail listen to the warnings – to their detriment and unfortunately cause mass injuries to innocent victims.  It is impossible for society to protect itself from such drivers, same way we could not do much to protect the mass murdering of the 149 people on board the Lufthansa Airbus by a deranged German pilot.

 

Source:ktla.com