5 dead, 5 injured when van transporting disabled adults collides with truck in Arkansas

DERMOTT, Ark. — Five people died and five others were injured after a van belonging to a school serving disabled adults crashed into a large truck in Arkansas on Monday, authorities said.

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The Arkansas State Police identified the victims killed as Brayshawn Ranson, 19; Tommy Figures, 50; Terry King, 56; Regina Jackson, 65; and Geraldine Prewitt, 73, KARK-TV reported.

According to investigators, the 15-passenger van failed to yield when crossing U.S. 65 in rural Chicot County and struck an 18-wheeler hauling cooking oil.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler confirmed Tuesday to The Associated Press that the van belonged to C.B. King Memorial School. According to the school’s official website, the nonprofit serves people with developmental delays or disabilities in several southeastern Arkansas counties.

“Our C B King Family is hurting tonight,” the school’s director of programs, Lora Medina, said in a statement issued Monday. “We don’t have the words right now to express our pain. The Adult Center in Arkansas City will be closed for now as we process what has happened.”

State police also confirmed that both drivers and three van passengers were injured in the crash.

“At this juncture in the investigation, it appears that the driver of the van did not see the oncoming traffic,” Sadler said Tuesday morning.

The crash occurred about a mile southeast of Dermott, which is about 100 miles southeast of Little Rock, KARK reported.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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