5 children hit by van in California are preschoolers. 3 are seriously injured, CHP says
Three of the five children hospitalized after being struck by a van Wednesday morning in a Pollock Pines crosswalk suffered major injuries, authorities said, as the tragic collision remains under investigation.
The victims were students of a nearby Montessori preschool, according to the school, El Dorado County community leaders and a family member.
Three of the five juvenile victims were taken to hospitals with major injuries, Sgt. Adam Croxton of the California Highway Patrol’s Placerville office said Thursday, and the other two had minor injuries. No updates on their conditions were available as of Thursday morning, Croxton said.
CHP officials said an appliance repair van driven by a 21-year-old man hit five children who were within a crosswalk on Pony Express Trail near Willow Street.
The children were students of Pine Top Montessori School, the school confirmed in a statement to KCRA. The school is on Pony Express Trail about two blocks east of the scene.
“Our hearts and prayers are with all our families, and we are sending our prayers for their speedy recovery,” the school’s statement read, in part. “We remain in close communication with authorities and parents to address the issue. To ensure the safety of all children, we respectfully ask that only parents and their children visit our facility.”
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. The driver stopped at the scene and cooperated with law enforcement; CHP Placerville spokesman Lt. Rick Hatfield on Wednesday said speed, drugs and alcohol did not appear to be factors.
A verified GoFundMe page was set up Thursday for a 4-year-old victim who was hospitalized with “significant head trauma,” family members said.
Jillian Leach wrote that her 4-year-old niece, Juniper, was going for a field trip across the street to a park when she and her preschool classmates were hit by a van.
Juniper was airlifted to a hospital and is in a pediatric intensive care unit, Leach wrote on the crowdfunding page.
“She has significant head trauma and has been intubated and placed on a ventilator,” Leach wrote. “My sister and brother-in-law have been bedside with her since she arrived.”
The GoFundMe page had raised more than $10,000 as of midday Thursday.
El Dorado County Supervisor Brooke Laine, who represents Pollock Pines, in a Facebook post Wednesday called the incident “a tragic accident that involved preschool children.”
Pine Top Montessori serves children up to age 6, with programs for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, according to its website.
The El Dorado Community Foundation, a Placerville-based nonprofit that raises funds for dozens of organizations, causes and for disaster relief in El Dorado County, established a fund within its community resource fund Thursday to aid victims of what it called the “Pine Top Montessori Tragedy.”
“While we don’t yet know the full extent of the tragedy, we do know that there will be monetary needs for those affected,” the foundation wrote in a news release.
