15 prisoners, driver hurt in Phoenix-area police van crash
A police transport van collided with a dump truck on a suburban Phoenix freeway Wednesday, injuring 15 prisoners.
Mesa Fire Department officials said five inmates and the van’s driver suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the crash that happened around noon Wednesday.
They were transported to hospitals as a precaution. The 10 other prisoners were treated at the scene for minor to moderate injuries.
Another Mesa police employee was in the van, which authorities say was broadsided by a dump truck that swerved to avoid hitting another vehicle. Authorities say that person wasn’t hurt.
Television footage showed the van stopped along a freeway barrier on U.S. 60 near the Loop 101 and some of the prisoners being taken away on stretchers.
The crash shut down the westbound lanes of the freeway for about six hours.
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This story has been corrected to show that five inmates and the driver suffered serious injuries, not six inmates, and that authorities say the crash was not a rollover crash.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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