14 Hurt, Including 12 Kids, When SUV Flips On Ike
Updated: 10/31/10 4:29 p.m.
CHICAGO (STMW) - A motorist who lost control and flipped a sport utility vehicle with 12 children inside on the Eisenhower Expressway Sunday afternoon will be cited with child endangerment and several seatbelt violations after the wreck sent all the kids to hospitals.
The crash happened about 1:15 p.m. on the outbound Ike near Kostner Avenue and left 14 people hospitalized, including nine children who were seriously hurt and two adults.
An unidentified woman who was driving remains hospitalized with an arm or hand injury, but she is expected to be cited with several seatbelt violations because there were so many children in the vehicle who were not properly restrained, according to ISP District Chicago Trooper Juan Lopez.
She will also be charged with child endangerment, Lopez said.
The woman was behind the wheel of the Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer and a witness reported that she was not speeding but she lost control for an unknown reason while going with the flow of traffic, Fire Media Affairs spokesman Quentin Curtis said.
"She rolled up the embankment and flipped a couple of times,'' Curtis said.
Curtis said she was not cut off first and only one vehicle was involved.
Nine children were seriously hurt and three children were in fair condition, according to according to Curtis. Two adults were also hospitalized in serious condition. The injured suffered broken bones and superficial wounds, but there were no injuries that were considered life threatening, Curtis said.
Lopez said the injured were taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to Lopez.
Curtis said some were also taken to Children's Memorial Hospital, and Mount Sinai Hospital.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
