Crash Kills 2 From Women’s College Team
A van carrying members of the Muskingum College women’s basketball team slid out of control on an icy interstate highway Saturday morning and was struck by a tractor-trailer, killing two women and injuring five.
The van was one of two carrying the team to a tournament at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Md. The second van was not involved in the accident.
Killed were Michelle Simpson, 18, a freshman, and Mary Smith, 20, a team manager, said Patricia Ellertson, a spokesperson for the college. The injured were taken to Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling, W.Va., about 10 miles away, where four team members were being treated in the intensive care unit, the hospital said.
The accident happened about 8:15 a.m on Interstate 70 near the town of St. Clairsville, in eastern Ohio.
The van, headed east, apparently tried to slow down on a part of the road made slick by a snow squall, said Sgt. Cliff Russell of the highway patrol’s St. Clairsville post. It and two cars behind it slid out of control, and a tractor-trailer approaching from behind clipped the rear of one car, then rammed the van’s passenger side, Russell said.
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