4 killed, 14 hurt in fiery crash near Washington

HYATTSVILLE, Md. -- Four people, including a child, died and 14 others were injured after a church van caught fire in a crash with a pickup truck in a Maryland suburb of the nation's capital Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Marc Bashoor, chief of the Prince George's County Fire Department, said via Twitter three adults and one child were confirmed as fatalities.

He said the accident occurred late Sunday afternoon on a road in Hyattsville, just northeast of Washington, D.C.

Fire department spokesman Mark Brady said via Twitter Sunday night 14 others -- six children and eight adults -- were taken to hospitals. He said eight of those transported were in critical condition, including four children.

Brady also said on television authorities believe a pickup truck first collided with another vehicle, then continued forward with a tire on fire when it hit the blue van, which was big enough to hold 15 passengers.

Brady said most of the injuries and fatalities were in the passenger van, which he described as a church van.

Brady said the crash was one of the worst scenes he has worked in a 40-year career. He cautioned the investigation remains in its early stages.

A police spokeswoman did not return a call seeking comment Sunday evening.

Donald Huff, who lives on the street where the accident took place, said he heard "a loud boom, just like a bomb," then saw the van burst into flames.

"The fire just got bigger and bigger," he said by phone.

He said a couple of people ran out on the street with kitchen fire extinguishers "to try to get as close as they could, but it was a little too much."

He said when the fire department arrived and brought the blaze under control, he could see them pulling bodies from the van. White smoke billowed from the scene afterward.

A witness told WTTG-TV she heard the crash from her home, and when she ran out, she saw "just regular people running in and pulling people out of the van." She said she saw bystanders remove at least four children from the van.

Photos taken by people nearby appeared to show flames shooting into the air near the side of the passenger van. The photos showed the van and the pickup truck had halted in what appeared to be the front yard of a single-family home. The extent of the fire and other damage to the vehicles involved wasn't known.

A spokeswoman for MedStar Washington Hospital Center said Sunday night that some of those in the crash had been sent there, but she had no additional details.

Crews from others counties were aiding in the response.