Driver Cited After Woman, Two Children Fatally Struck By Semi-Truck
(CBS) -- A woman and two young children were killed after being struck by a semi-tractor-trailer truck Friday evening in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
The incident occurred around 5 p.m. in the 4300 block of South Ashland Avenue.
Initially, authorities said, the three victims were rushed to the hospital: two children in critical condition to Mt. Sinai and an adult to Stroger Hospital.
Later, Chicago Police News Affairs said the three people died. The victims were identified as Elizabeth Peralta-Luna, 30, nine-year-old Elizabeth Peralta and four-year-old Dylan Peralta.
The driver, 23-year-old Zachary Barngrover from Iowa, was cited with failing to yield to a pedestrian at a crosswalk and making an improper left turn on a two-way road, police said.
Elisabeth Torres witnessed the accident while sitting at the window of a doughnut shop with her husband. In Spanish, she tells CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot:
"The lady was crossing the street. She and the children were holding hands. A truck heading down 43rd turned. All three were hit. The mother was dragged and one child was pinned under a wheel," she said.
Torres says the driver of the truck had a green light while driving west on 43rd and was making a left heading south onto Ashland. She says it appears the driver just didn't see the woman and two children, who apparently were heading to a bus stop.