15-year-old student killed, 5 injured in Dravosburg school van crash
DRAVOSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) -- A 15-year-old girl is dead after a car struck a school van in Dravosburg.
A brutal and deadly crash has left the community shaken and demanding change.
A van carrying students from Serra Catholic High School was attempting to turn from Third Street onto Richland Avenue when it was struck by an oncoming vehicle around 7:20 a.m. on Wednesday morning. A 15-year-old girl identified by the medical examiner as Samantha Kalkbrenner was killed and the other three students on board were transported to the hospital in stable condition.
💔Samantha Kalkbrenner, 15, was killed Wednesday morning and three other students were taken to the hospital in stable condition…
— Jennifer Borrasso (@JenBorrasso) September 21, 2023
after crash involving school van in Dravosburg. @KDKA https://t.co/M0x7QimzF5
Drivers of both vehicles were transported to the hospital in critical condition.
The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh confirmed the girl killed was a student. The school will be closed through Friday, and counselors will be available. An on-campus prayer service is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday.
"The Serra Catholic school community is close-knit, and this has deeply impacted many. The principal, president, staff, teachers, and the school chaplain, along with the diocesan school superintendent and assistant superintendent have been working to comfort school families and each other."
The diocese also confirmed the three other students were hospitalized in stable condition and said it's "indebted" to first responders, doctors and medical staff taking care of them.
Neighbors said this is a problematic road and intersection.
"This happens here once a month, once a month," said Glen Allen, who witnessed the crash. "This has been going on for decades."
Jessica McCauley was driving north on Richland Avenue across the Mansfield Bridge on Wednesday morning when said claimed she saw two drivers racing.
"They were coming from McKeesport, and the white car passed up and then the Jeep came flying around the bend and almost hit into the edge of the bridge and took off," McCauley said. "They were weaving in and out of different cars and just flying."
She said she was thinking to herself that they could cause an accident.
"We saw the car on fire, and then saw the kids lying on the ground," she said.
Allegheny County police are currently investigating what caused this crash to occur, but neighbors say nothing will change on this deadly stretch of road until a light is put in.
"It's sad -- someone, please -- I don't know who I could speak to," pleaded Amy Kovka, another eyewitness of the crash. "Please Dravosburg, do something with this road. How many more accidents are we going to have? How many more people are going to get killed before something gets done?"
Allegheny County police homicide detectives as well as the reconstruction crew are investigating the cause of the crash.