Vans carrying kids crash in Spokane

Children were put in neck braces, strapped onto stretchers and loaded into ambulances. But hours after a rear-end crash between two city-owned vans Thursday in northeast Spokane, the 14 children and one adult injured had been released from hospitals.

“That’s really great news,” said Kimbre Vega, director of the Northeast Youth Center.

The vans were taking 19 children ages 5 to 12 from the center to Regal and Logan elementary schools when one van stopped to allow a child to cross East Wellesley Avenue near North Cook Street and the other van rear-ended it, police said.

The driver of the second van, Alex Aragon, a two-year seasonal employee for the Parks and Recreation Department, was cited for following too closely, and the city of Spokane is investigating, city spokeswoman Marlene Feist said.

The most serious injury was a cut to a child’s cheek that required stitches, Vega said.

Everyone in the vans was wearing a seat belt, and the vans were equipped with booster seats, Vega said.

“It was a freak situation,” she said. “A kid jumped off of the sidewalk into the street, and my gal slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting him.”

Children were treated at Providence Holy Family Hospital, Deaconess Medical Center and Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. All had been released by Thursday afternoon, officials said.

The youth center, part of the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department, offers day care for children before and after school.

Center employees have been driving children to and from school for years, Vega said. “We probably do 100 miles a day,” she said.