Buy PhotoGARY SEWELL/HERALD DEMOCRAT
Colbert, Okla., first responders work near an overturned bus on Hwy. 69 near Colbert Friday afternoon. The bus was involved in a wreck that claimed three lives.
Buy PhotoGARY SEWELL/HERALD DEMOCRAT
A van from a Denison rehabilitation facility sets on its side after being involved in a wreck Friday afternoon just south of Colbert, Okla. on Hwy. 69. Three people died in the wreck.
COLBERT, Okla. — Three patients from a Denison rehabilitation facility died Friday when a van they were in was involved in a wreck on U.S. Highway 69 just south of Colbert.
A statement from the Beacon Hill facility of Cantex Continuing Care Network said that four paitents, two family members and two staff members were in the van returning to Denison from a trip to Choctaw Casino. Oklahoma Highway Patrolman Scott Hampton told reporters that the van and a semi-tractor trailer collided, causing the van to go off the roadway and then overturn a few times.
Investigators said two passengers were thrown from the van and one died instantly. Two other passengers later died. A fourth was flown to a hospital in Plano and was in serious condition Friday afternoon.
“This is a terrible tragedy,” said Robin Underhill, Cantex Continuing Care Network CEO in a statement released to the media. “Our sympathies and prayers are with the patients, families and employees involved in the accident. We are in the process of trying to learn more abut the aciddent and will release more information when it becomes available.”
Officers with Colbert Police Department and OHP continued to work the wreck scene late Friday night.
No names were released by Saturday morning.
