TUXEDO, N.Y., March 17 — Four people, including three minors, were killed and another child was critically injured when a tractor-trailer slammed into the back of their stopped minivan on the New York State Thruway on Friday morning, the police said.Skip to next paragraph
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The van was carrying six passengers — two mothers, each with two children — who were headed to a swimming competition in Buffalo. The children were representing the Y.M.C.A. in Flushing, Queens.
The police said that the 47-year-old driver of the van, Shuk H. Tse, had stopped in the middle of the right traffic lane, not on the shoulder, to check on a tire. She was pronounced dead at the scene, along with her two sons, Kevin Kwan, 16, and Douglas Jaing, 10.
The other mother in the car, Karen Lao, 43, survived, but her 14-year-old daughter, April, died hours later at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. Her 10-year-old son, Andy, was in the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit. The driver of the tractor-trailer, David Tichko, suffered a shoulder injury but was expected to be released from Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern late Friday.
The accident scene was one of devastation. The crash, which tied up northbound traffic for several hours, happened around 7 a.m. It forced both the tractor-trailer and the van, a 2001 Toyota Sienna, over the guardrail and down a steep embankment.
When the police arrived, some of the van’s passengers, apparently ejected, lay on the shoulder of the highway. Backpacks, school books and a sneaker were strewn about the accident site, along with mangled pieces of the van.
“The van was ripped in half,” said Capt. Edward Raso of the New York State Police. “The driver’s side was sheared off. It was not a pleasant scene.”
A spokeswoman for the Y.M.C.A. of Greater New York, Colleen Roche, said that the children in the van were among 120 traveling to Buffalo from the Y.M.C.A. in Flushing. They were scheduled to compete this weekend with several hundred other young people in the New York State Y.M.C.A. swimming competition at Erie Community College.
In a statement, Jack Lund, the president and chief executive of the Y.M.C.A. of Greater New York, said the “entire Y.M.C.A. family is devastated by this tragic and unspeakable loss of life.” He added that members of the executive staff and grief counselors were on their way to Buffalo to console participants in the swim meet.
It was the second accident in a little over a month to claim four lives on the same busy stretch of interstate through Orange County, just south of the Harriman toll plaza. On Feb. 8, two parents from Rochester, traveling with their 3-year-old son, were killed when a driver lost control of his tractor-trailer and hit their Range Rover head on. The truck driver also died.
Captain Raso said that it was unlikely that charges would be filed against the driver of the tractor-trailer involved in the crash on Friday. “Speed played no role here,” he said. “We believe he tried to avoid her. Those tractor-trailers cannot stop quickly even going at the speed limit.”
Mr. Raso said much of the information about the accident came from Ms. Lao, who was conscious and talking at the scene. The police said she was also hurt in the crash, but they did not know the extent of her injuries. She was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital and was scheduled to be transferred to Westchester Medical Center later on Friday.
Ms. Lao, of Whitestone, Queens, told the police that Shuk Tse, who lived in Flushing, Queens, stopped to see if there was something wrong with a tire. After she got back into the van, the truck struck it from behind. Mr. Raso said he did not know why she did not pull into the shoulder, which he said was wide enough to accommodate the van.
The tanker-style tractor-trailer, which was empty and not severely damaged, belonged to Coppola Services Inc. of Ringwood, N.J., a company that services sewage plants and septic tanks. In a telephone interview, the owner of the company, Ralph Coppola, said he had spoken to Mr. Tichko by phone after the accident.
“He said he came around a corner and it was just there,” said Mr. Coppola, referring to the stopped van. “He didn’t have any time to do anything. It’s a tragic thing. Something like this is about the worst thing that can possibly happen for a driver.”
Kaing Lao, Ms. Lao’s brother, said in a telephone interview on Friday night that he believed his sister and nephew’s injuries were not life-threatening. “That’s the only bright side in this whole debacle now,” Mr. Lao said.
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