Seven family members killed when semi hits van

Semi hits van, seven family members killed Via Google Images.

Tragedy struck a family trip from Chicago to the East Coast when a semi-trailer slammed into the back of their van, killing seven of the family members, including a newborn and three other children.

The 1998 Toyota minivan was headed east on the Indiana Toll Road, carrying 10 relatives, six adults and four children, when it struck a deer near South Bend around 7 p.m. Thursday, said Quizhpi and state police.

After hitting the deer, the van stopped and was hit from behind by a semi truck moving at about 65 mph, said state police Sgt. Trent Smith. He said one-month-old Franklin had been in a car seat but he had not been buckled into it. The other people in the van were not wearing seatbelts, according to Smith.

The victims who did not survive were 6-week-old Franklin Quizhpe, his brother Edwin Quizhpe, 8, and their mother Maria Yupa, 21; Pedro Chimborazo Yupa, 15, and his father Pedro Chimborazo, 52; Jessica Chimborazo, 8, and her mother Maria “Transito” Chimborazo Pinguil, 25.

The injured victims were Cayetano Quizhpe, 26, who was reported to be in stable condition; Maria Antonia Yupa, 36, in serious condition; and the driver, Manuel Chimborazo, 30, reported in critical condition. The driver of the van, a construction worker, was said to be in a coma.

Everyone in the van was from Ecuador according to Manuel Quizhpi, the brother of one of the victims. The relatives were on their way to a funeral in New Jersey, according to state police, but Quizhpi said they also hoped to introduce the newborn to his gradparents on the trip.

The driver of the semi truck, a 2006 Freightliner owned by Roehl Transport out of Marshfield, Wis., was treated for minor injuries and released from a local hospital. Police said a preliminary test on him for alcohol was negative.

Source: Chicagotribune.com