Thread: Kentucky - Eleven dead in US highway crash

Eleven dead in US highway crash

Eleven people were killed in the US state of Kentucky when a truck crashed into a church van carrying a family on their way to a wedding.

The tractor-trailer crossed the central reservation and struck the van head-on, officials said.

It then hit a rock wall and burst into flames, local media reported. The trailer driver was among the dead. Two children survived.

Kentucky police said it was one of the deadliest accidents in about 20 years.

Pastor Leroy Kauffman with the Marrowbone Christian Brotherhood in Burkesville said there were three young children on board - aged 1, 3 and 5.

He said there was also a couple on board the van who were engaged to be married.

"They had a July wedding planned," he was quoted as saying by the AP news agency. "They'll have a wedding in heaven I guess."

The pastor added the family were Mennonites and the father was an assistant pastor at the church.

The family's house had burnt down in December and they had just moved into a new home built by church members, he said.

A similar crash in May 1988 - involving a church bus - claimed the lives of 27 people, AP said. It was caused by a drunk driver going the wrong way on Interstate 71 in Carroll County.

BBC News - Eleven dead in US highway crash

TeakDoor.com - The Thailand Forum Kentucky Weather Forecasts