Colorado snowplow crash kills van driver, injures 8 with California girls hockey team

Audio By Carbonatix

GEORGETOWN, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado Department of Transportation snowplow collided with a van carrying members of a California girls hockey team, killing the van driver and injuring eight of the van's nine passengers, one of them critically.

The crash happened Thursday morning when the plow driver lost control in snowy weather while headed westbound and crossed the median of Interstate 70 about 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of Denver, according to the Colorado State Patrol.

In the eastbound lanes, the plow hit a pickup truck, then the van, which went down an embankment.

The van driver, whose identity was not yet released Friday, was declared dead on the scene. Four juveniles were taken by ambulance to a local hospital and later released, while three adults remained hospitalized, two of them in fair and one in serious condition.

A fifth juvenile who was flown by helicopter to a trauma center was in critical condition. No one else involved in the wrecks was hurt, according to the patrol.

The Santa Clarita Lady Flyers 12AA girls hockey team was involved in a “terrible traffic accident” in Colorado, team president Prescott Littlefield said on Instagram.

“Words cannot express the heartbreak we are experiencing. Please hold these families in your prayers,” Littlefield wrote.

The team was in Colorado for a tournament, according to a donation page that, as of Friday, had raised over $35,000 for the players and their families.