Day care van crashes in Memphis; four children, driver killed, two children hurt

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) _ Four children died and two others were critically hurt when a day care van drifted from a highway and crashed. The van's driver also died in the accident. <br><br>Only the driver

Friday, April 5th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) _ Four children died and two others were critically hurt when a day care van drifted from a highway and crashed. The van's driver also died in the accident.

Only the driver and his six young passengers were on the van when it crashed Thursday morning.

``One witness that we have says there was no indication there was anything out of the ordinary before the vehicle left the roadway,'' said Charles Cook, a deputy police chief.

The van was about four miles from Tippy Toes Learning Academy when it veered to the right on Interstate 240, slid along a guard rail and smashed into the supports of a highway overpass.

The driver and two girls, both age 6, died at the scene; two boys, ages 9 and 8, died at LeBonheur Children's Center, hospital spokeswoman Janet Phillips said.

Two other boys, ages 10 and 11, were listed in critical condition at the hospital, Phillips said. Among the dead and injured were two sets of siblings.

Sandra Gordon, owner of the day care center, is the mother of the 8-year-old boy who was killed and the 11-year-old who was injured. She declined to comment.

Vershell Curtis, the aunt of two of the dead children and one of the injured, said she had been helping her family take care of them since January because their mother was hospitalized with brain cancer.

``This morning when they got on the van they were waving and throwing kisses,'' Curtis said, her voice choked with emotion.

Curtis said the driver would pick up the children at home, and take the younger ones to day care and the older ones to school.

Deputy Chief Charles Cook said the van was believed to be traveling about 65 mph in a 55-mph zone. It was in the southbound lane of the interstate when it left the roadway around 8 a.m. and crashed.

``It does appear that speed was involved,'' Cook told WREG-TV, adding that no other vehicles were involved. The weather was sunny and clear.

Cook said all the children were apparently wearing seat belts or were in safety seats, but the driver may not have been wearing a seat belt.

After the crash, police blocked the day care center's parking lot, and there were no children playing outside the brightly painted brick building. A van bore the slogan ``a home away from home.''