By Peter Nickeas
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — Three children and five adults were injured in a two-car crash in the South Side’s Fuller Park community early Monday morning, according to authorities.
At least one car and a minivan were involved in the crash about 1:35 a.m. at the intersection of 43rd Street and northbound LaSalle Street, which parallels the Dan Ryan Expressway on the east side.
A 7-year-old boy and two younger children, a boy and a girl whose ages weren’t available, were taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in fair-to-serious condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
A woman was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County in serious-to-critical condition, along with two men to the same hospital in the same condition. A man and a woman were taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in fair-to-serious condition.
Police said a 29-year-old woman driving a minivan west on 43rd Street blew a red light and crashed into a four-door sedan that was northbound on La Salle Street. Police are investigating whether alcohol impaired the 29-year-old driver.
She was the only one in the van. The other seven people injured were in the car, authorities said.
The crash prompted the first arriving paramedics to ask for an EMS Plan 1, which summons a total of six ambulances to the scene.
The last of six ambulances to respond to the scene left about 2:25 a.m. and an Illinois Department of Transportation tow truck moved the car from its resting place, against a light pole and a wall, off to the side of the road.
A second vehicle, a dark-colored minivan, was already off to the side but not as badly damaged.
WGN-TV contributed to this report.