Church Van Accident Kills Six, Injures Eight

During my years in the church insurance business several of the biggest claims in the history of the company were caused by church van accidents like this one:

A blown tire caused a van carrying the leaders of a New York City church to lose control and flip over on the New York State Thruway, killing at least six people, including the bishop and his wife, authorities said. Eight others were injured.

Fourteen people were in the van when it crashed Saturday on the northbound side of Interstate 87 in Woodbury, about 55 miles north of New York City, at about 3 p.m., state police and the Thruway Authority said.

Six of the passengers were dead at the scene. The injured were taken to two different hospitals; four were airlifted out, and the others were taken by ambulance.

"It was a tragic, tragic scene," said state police Troop T commander Major Robert Meyers.

He said the right rear tire blew out on the 1997 van, and the vehicle went into a rumble strip and rolled over into the grassy median. Some of the passengers were ejected, and the van came to a rest upside-down.

Back in March another church van crash killed 11. Church vans of the 15 passenger type are particularly prone to overloading and rollover accidents. I've written more on the subject of church vans at the Insurance for Churches blog.