SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. — Two children died and their mother suffered life-threatening injuries after a three-vehicle crash that may have been caused by “a medical episode” on Tuesday, authorities said.
A 7-year-old and a 9-year-old were killed in the crash, which occurred in Sierra Vista at about 7:30 a.m. MT, KOLD reported.
According to a news release from the Sierra Vista Police Department, the crash involved a white sedan, a white pickup truck pulling a trailer and a gold sedan.
During their investigation, officers learned that the white sedan was traveling northbound on Coronado Drive in Sierra Vista while the pickup was headed east on the U.S. 90 bypass. The gold sedan was stopped in the westbound left turn lane of the bypass.
According to police, the mother of the children, whose age and identity have not been revealed, likely had a medical episode and ran a red light, hitting the pickup, KOLD reported.
The collision caused both vehicles to swing around and hit the gold sedan, police said. The pickup rolled onto its side and caught fire.
“The truck with the trailer was going eastbound,” Sierra Vista Police Department spokesperson Jené Seage told the Herald Review. “They collided, and the collision caused them to spin around.”
Police did not provide any information detailing what the medical emergency might have been.
A passenger in the pickup was taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening, KVOA reported.
The driver and passengers of the white sedan were hospitalized, and the two children were pronounced dead, police said.
Their mother was airlifted to a Tucson hospital, where she remains in critical condition.
The occupants of the pickup and gold sedan were not injured, the Herald Review reported.
During a meeting of the Sierra Vista Unified School District Governing Board, Superintendent Terri Romo confirmed that the two children were students at Bella Vista Elementary School, KGUN and KOLD reported.
“This loss is a powerful reminder of what truly matters,” Romo said during Tuesday’s meeting. “It calls us to hold our loved ones a little closer, to lead with compassion and take care of one another.”
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