Four Children, One Adult Injured As TPD Investigates Pair Of Skyland Boulevard Crashes

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Tuscaloosa Police Department is investigating two wrecks on Skyland Boulevard Wednesday morning that resulted in five people injured, four of whom are children.

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TPD says first accident occurred at 7:32 a.m. when the load of a westbound box truck shifted, causing it to overturn in the inside lane of Skyland Boulevard in front of the Pilot Travel Center at 4416 Skyland Boulevard.

The first wreck prompted a worker from the Alabama Department of Transportation in a state truck to pull behind the truck to assist, while a TPD officer on his way to work stopped to take a report and parked his patrol car near the ALDOT truck.

The second wreck then occurred minutes later — at approximately 7:43 a.m. — when a woman driving a Dodge mini-van exited the eastbound ramp of Interstate 20/59 and struck an eastbound 18-wheeler flatbed hauling building supplies, pushing it across the median and into the westbound lanes where the first accident occurred.

The flatbed truck then reportedly struck the unoccupied, parked ALDOT truck and TPD patrol car, with the officer on scene narrowly avoiding serious injury.

The woman driving the van, in addition to four children who were in the van, were all transported to DCH Regional Medical Center, before two of the children were taken to a hospital in Birmingham with serious injuries.

The two collisions remain under investigation.

This is a developing story. Tuscaloosa Patch will have more information as it comes available.