A 17-year-old girl from Ohio was stunned when she learned her actions had resulted in not only the deaths of five people, but also an entire town being evacuated.
Five people were killed following a crash of a tanker carrying ammonia on September 29 last year in Teutopolis, Illinois, US.
The 17-year-old - who was driving a minivan at approximately 90mph that 'cut off' the tanker - was interviewed by police and investigators following the crash. However, she stated she was completely unaware she was involved.
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The tanker spilled about half of the 7,500-gallon load and this resulted in 500 people in the nearby town being evacuated for hours to prevent exposure to the hazardous plume.
Five people also died as a result, with Effingham County Coroner identifying the victims as: Danny Smith, 67, of New Haven, Missouri; Vasile Cricovan, 31, of Twinsburg, Ohio; Kenneth Bryan, 34, of Teutopolis, Illinois; Rosie Bryan, 7, of Beecher City, Illinois; and Walker Bryan, 10, of Beecher City, Illinois.
The teen spoke with authorities in a recorded interview published by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Wednesday (October 2). Her identity was withheld due to being a minor at the time.
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Wright State Campus Police Department read the teen her rights and asked if she wanted an attorney, to which she responded confused asking why she would need one.
She said she knew nothing more about the crash other than what she had already seen on the news.
She said: "I heard that maybe it flipped," and said she had seen many trucks in the area but didn’t recall a specific anhydrous tanker.
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She said: "I was behind several trucks. I was behind this, this boxy maybe trailer or RV. And he was going super duper slow, so I passed him.
“I did not see a crash, hear a crash or anything. I just remember seeing the emergency vehicles coming the other way. Basically I just thought like it happened behind me.”
But investigators then showed her the video from the ill-fated truck, which showed she had, in fact, cut off the tanker and caused the crash.
She responded: "Oh, (expletive). Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Yep, totally my bad. Wow. Holy (expletive)."
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When an investigator expressed disbelief that no one in the car with her noticed a truck turning over behind them, she reiterated that she had no idea that it had happened.
"Nobody said, ‘Oh, the guy behind you drove off the road'," the girl said.
"That would've been a huge deal for everybody. We would've been like, ‘Oh, (expletive), I just caused something really bad to happen,' and then like our whole night would’ve been figuring out what to do.”
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When offered to see the video again, she declined and explained she often had issues judging distances.
The teen said: "No, you don't have to. It was totally my fault. I've honestly in the past had times when I just don't use good judgment in judging like distances and whether I have enough time for something.
The illinois State Police conducted its own investigation and turned over its findings to the Effingham County State's Attorney Aaron Jones.
Jones has not commented on the status of the case, according to the Associated Press.
Gerrard Kaonga