Crash Witness: "I Saw a Wall of Sparks"

March 15, 2010

by Denise Hnytka (SUMNER COUNTY, Kan)

A Wichita mother and two of her children are killed on the Kansas turnpike. The family was heading out of town when their van was hit head on an SUV going the wrong way.

It happened about five miles north of the Belle Plaine Service Area just before five Monday morning.

The driver of the SUV was also killed. 27-year-old Gregory Davis was headed north in the south-bound lanes when he hit the van head-on. He took the wrong ramp leaving the service area, passing a "Do Not Enter" sign and two "Wrong Way" signs.

Tasia Farley saw the crash in her rear-view mirror.

"I was going about 75 miles per hour on the right," she said. "He passed me on the left. It was like instant. I just looked straight up when he passed me because I knew he was going to hit someone. I just saw a wall of sparks."

There's little left of either vehicle. The SUV was engulfed in flames. The van was crushed between it and a semi that slammed into it from behind.

"I re-played it over and over in my mind," said Farley. "I know in my head there was nothing I could have done, but I keep thinking about those families."

A family of four was inside the van and headed out of town. A mother, 39-year-old Kyoung Yeaon Chae, her 9-year-old son Seo Won Choi, and 17-year-old daughter Yuna Choi were killed. Yuna's twin sister, Hanna survived the crash.

The SUV traveled four and a half miles before the accident. In that time, several other drivers called 9-1-1 to report it, though there wasn't enough time to stop it.

"He was going incredibly fast," said Farley. "That's what struck me. He's in the wrong lane, and he's going so fast."

|

|

|