Passenger van crash kills two occupants

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Two people died and more than a dozen were injured Thursday morning after a van carrying 20 passengers tumbled off of Interstate 57 in Mississippi County, three miles south of Charleston, said the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The 2004 Ford van was driven southbound by Latasha Franklin, 22. The group, coming from Harvey, Ill., was traveling to Mississippi for a funeral. As the vehicle ran off the left side of the roadway, the driver overcorrected and ran off the right side, the patrol said. She overcorrected again and ran off the left side, this time causing the van to overturn and strike trees. Killed were Gloria Emery, 57, and Janice Franklin, 43, both of Harvey. Latasha Franklin was airlifted to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau with serious injuries. The 17 other occupants, aged from infancy to 43 years old, suffered minor injuries and were taken to Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo.