Thursday’s I69 crash has now claimed two lives

2-i69-crash-from-sep-24-2015-photo-from-timesfreepress-dot-com

The van’s tires had “dry rot” according to police….

 

A pregnant woman has become the second person to die after a van overloaded with 24 people flipped over along I60 on Thursday

Vanderburgh County deputy coroner Steve Lockyear  19-year-old Christela Georges was 24 weeks pregnant and died Friday from her injuries.

He says her child was delivered at an Evansville hospital and is alive. The woman’s name won’t be released until her relatives in Haiti are notified.

Meanwhile,  The Gibson County coroner says 60-year-old Gena Moise of Washington,  died in the crash at the scene that happened at the Fort Branch exit.  Police say the driver lost control of the 16-passenger van after a tire blowout. The van was headed to a factory.

Several people remain hospitalized, including one in critical condition and two others in serious condition.

All in the van were believed to be of Haitian descent and were headed to AmeriQual, a food processing and packaging plant in Vanderburgh County.

 

State police spokesman Todd Ringle said the top heavy van

had signs of “extreme” dry rot in the tires.  The driver had no control when the right rear tire blew.  In addition, there were no seats in the rear of the van, authorities report it had been modified with wooden bench-like seats.