5 children among 7 dead after fiery head-on crash on Illinois highway

Chantal Da Silva
Updated ·1 min read

Seven people, including five children, were killed after a car traveling the wrong way collided into a van on Interstate 90 near Hampshire, Illinois, in a fiery collision Sunday, state police said.

The Illinois State Police said the situation unfolded just after 2 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET), when a gray 2010 Acura TSX traveling eastbound in westbound lanes crashed into a blue 2005 Chevrolet full-size van. Both vehicles "became engulfed in flames," they said.

All five children in the van — ages 5, 6, 7 and two 13-year-olds — were killed in the crash, along with an adult passenger, identified as Lauren Dobosz, 31. The driver of the van, Thomas Dobosz, 32, was airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries.

The relationships of those traveling in the van were not immediately clear, but all were from Rolling Meadows, about 25 miles northwest of Chicago.

The driver in the passenger vehicle, identified as Jennifer Fernandez, 22, of Carpentersville, was killed in the crash.

Police said it was unclear why the driver of the passenger vehicle was traveling in the wrong lane at the time of the collision.

All westbound lanes of Interstate 90 near milepost 33 were closed for an investigation into the crash. The lanes were reopened just before 9:30 a.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET) Sunday.

State police said an investigation into the deadly incident was ongoing.