Car carrying family crushed in I-65 crash

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A mini van carrying a mother and two children was crushed in a crash on I-65 southbound at Keystone Avenue on the south side during rush hour Friday afternoon.

Police said the driver of an RV pulling a horse trailer said he meant to hit the brake but accidentally pushed on the gas pedal sending the RV into the van carrying the mother and her children -- ages two and four.

The RV pushed the van down the highway, plowing into at least four other vehicles and eventually the cement barrier. The accident scene stretches for more than two football fields. Debris from the vehicles littered the highway.

Witnesses told 24-Hour News 8 they had to pry 36-year-old Erin McCormick, her four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son out of the destroyed van. Police said they were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The children’s father was also in the car but police said he was not injured. Those who helped McCormick said the family was on their way to Disney World.

The RV driver, 72-year-old Charles Walker, was cited for towing a trailer in the fast lane, driving a vehicle-trailer combo that's too long and driving too fast for traffic conditions.

Police reopened two lanes on I-65 southbound after about four hours. Police expected to fully reopen the interstate around 10 p.m.