5 P.M. UPDATE:
HOPE – Hauser Jr.-Sr. High School students and staff pulled together after four students were involved in a serious two-vehicle accident Wednesday near the school.
Three of the Hauser students were trapped in the wreckage for nearly an hour Wednesday while rescue personnel worked to free them.
The students were identified as Sarah Vanderlind, 17, the driver, of Hope; and passengers Erin Newcomb, 17, Columbus, Veronica McKinney, 16, Hope and John Bragg, 17, Hope.
Newcomb was transported by medical helicopter to IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Her condition has not yet been released by the hospital.
The other three students were taken to Columbus Regional Hospital. McKinney was admitted in stable condition at CRH, hospital officials said. Bragg was confirmed to be at CRH but did not have a condition listed Wednesday night, hospital officials said. Vanderlind was listed as being transferred from CRH, but no further information was available as to where she was transferred to.
Flat Rock-Hawcreek Superintendent Shawn Price had gone to the hospital to check on the three students at CRH and said they were “stable,” on Wednesday afternoon.
The accident happened at about noon at State Road 9 and County Road 600N as the students were believed to be headed to IUPUC and C4 classes at Columbus North High School.
2:20 P.M. UPDATE: State Road 9 at County Road 600N has reopened, according to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department. Investigators have confirmed that the four Hauser High School seniors in the vehicle also were C4 career education students in Columbus. One of the victims was transported to Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis while the other three were taken to Columbus Regional Hospital. No condition reports are available and investigators have not yet released the students’ names.
1:15 P.M. UPDATE: The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department says that State Road 9 at County Road 600N will remain closed for at least another hour as an accident reconstructionist works at the scene. Motorists are asked to avoid the area.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department said State Road 9 at County Road 600N is closed due to a personal-injury crash with entrapment.
Four of the victims are believed to be Hauser High School students, school officials on the scene said. The accident happened near the high school in front of the Dollar General in Hope.
Hope police officers initially reported that three individuals were trapped in a vehicle at the accident, which was reported at about noon.
A Lifeline helicopter was called in addition to three ambulances at 12:05 p.m. At 12:13 p.m., a second Lifeline helicopter was requested, but was called off at 12:41 p.m. when all the victims had been extricated from the vehicle.
Two vehicles, a car and a truck with a trailer, are involved, according to police. The teenagers were believed to be trapped in the car.
The sheriff’s department is asking motorists to avoid the area if possible.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
