SEMI & 3 CARS CRASH ON W RIVER

TWO IN SERIOUS CONDITON

A crash early this morning on West River Road South at the intersection of 16th Street sent 2 people with serious injuries to Cleveland by helicopters.

Captain Joe Pronesti of the Elyria Fire Department said that the first call came in as a crash involving a Semi and a school bus. “We were first told that a semi and school bus had crashed but then while responding we were told that it was a semi and 3 other vehicles, no busses but there was entrapment involved.”

LifeCare Paramedics treated the two victims from the cars while the semi truck driver and the driver of the mini van refused treatment or transport. Michael Bridge, Supervisor at LifeCare Ambulance said that the two victims that were transported were considered to be in serious condition. “With the type of injuries that they sustained during the crash we had LifeFlight dispatched to Elyria Memorial right away. We were concerned that one of the victims who at first seemed fine and was talking was growing lethargic in the ambulance.”

The crash is still under investigation by the Elyria Police Department but what is known for sure is that the semi was southbound on West River and a black 4 door rabbit was pulling off of 16th Street when it was struck by the semi throwing it into a nearby field. Two other vehicles involved were a mini van and a Ford Taurus. The Taurus was found about 200 feet north of the crash but that was because the driver moved it there before rescue crews arrived.

Captain Pronesti said that Firefighters used hand tools to extricate the victim from the Rabbit while other Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to extricate the victim from the Taurus.

Metro LifeFlight landed one chopper on the roof while the second landed at McKinley School for the two victims. Both were flown to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.

To see more photos: CLICK HERE