PHOTO COURTESY OF OSP
Eleven people were injured, including four seriously, in the accident Monday morning on Interstate 84 near La Grande.
The injured were members of La Estrella, a musical group out of Dallas, Texas. They were traveling eastbound on I-84 from Washington back to Texas when their van went off the shoulder of the interstate and rolled 50 feet down a steep embankment.
The accident occurred around 7:40 a.m. Two of the people in the van, which was pulling a trailer, were ejected and one was pinned underneath the van from his shoulders down. An Oregon State Police trooper and seven of the passengers lifted the van off the man. He was transported by LifeFlight to Kadlec Medical Center in Richland. Three other occupants were transported by ground ambulance to Grande Ronde Hospital in La Grande for serious injuries.
The other seven people in the van were later taken by Mid-Columbia Bus Company out of Pendleton to Grande Ronde Hospital for medical evaluations of minor injuries.
According to the OSP, the accident occurred when the van gradually travelled off the pavement to the right onto a wide gravel area. The van brushed the end of a metal guardrail, continuing to the right side of the railing and down the embankment where it came to rest at the bottom after rolling several times.
The OSP says driver fatigue may have been a factor in the crash. No citations have been issued at this time. Assistance at the scene was provided by ODOT and several public safety agencies out of Union and Umatilla counties.
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