Crowded Van Overturns in Missouri, Killing Five

June 20, 2005
A van carrying 20 people, including several Central American nationals, skidded and overturned on a Missouri highway, killing five passengers and injuring 15, police said.

COLUMBIA, Missouri (AP) -- A van carrying 20 people, including several Central American nationals, skidded and overturned on a Missouri highway, killing five passengers and injuring 15, police said.

The van was traveling east on Interstate 70 Sunday when it drifted onto the shoulder of the highway west of Columbia. The driver apparently overcorrected, causing the van to skid into the median, where it overturned several times.

Killed in the crash were three men and one woman. The gender of the fifth victim was not immediately available.

Authorities identified only one of the five fatalities: Julio Lopez-Luna, whose age and hometown were unknown.

Seventeen of the van's occupants were thrown from the vehicle.

Two occupants -- Vianeth Murillo-Munguia, 21, of Long Beach, California, and Gerson Rodriguez-Alonzo, 20, of Honduras -- were in critical condition at a Columbia hospital. At least eight others were also hospitalized in varying conditions, and one person's condition was not immediately known.

Another hospital had one person in stable condition. Three other crash survivors were treated at the hospital, but left later Sunday.

Several occupants were Central American nationals, including four from Guatemala, three from Honduras and one from El Salvador. They did not speak English, so hospital officials used interpreters to communicate.

Many of the injured were not carrying identification. All of the identified passengers were in their teens and 20s.

None of the van's occupants had been wearing seat belts, police said.

Police did not know where the passengers were headed in the van, which had California license plates.

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