An 8-year-old girl is dead and two other children were airlifted to Albuquerque after a two-vehicle head-on collision Monday morning on the La Plata Highway (Colorado Highway 140) just north of the New Mexico state line.
Capt. Adrian Driscoll of the Colorado State Patrol said six people were taken to area hospitals after the crash, which was reported at 8:25 a.m.
Nyesha Candelaria, 32, of Durango was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Uplander north with four passengers – the 8-year-old girl, a 1-year-old girl, a 9-year-old boy and 7-year-old boy – when she collided with a southbound 2009 Kia Sorento driven by Mindy Walck, 38, of Hesperus.
Candelaria, both girls and the 9-year-old boy, were taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, where the 8-year-old girl was pronounced dead. The 1-year-old girl and the 9-year-old boy were airlifted from Farmington to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque later Monday in critical condition, but by Monday evening at 9:15 p.m., the charge nurse at the pediatric intensive care unit said they were stable.
The 7-year-old boy and Walck were taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center in Durango. Both drivers have serious injuries, and the 7-year-old has moderate injuries, officials said.
Details of the crash are unclear, but the State Patrol is investigating. Driscoll said no alcohol or drugs are suspected, but Candelaria may have been speeding.
The road was slushy from the weather, Driscoll said.
No charges have been filed, he said.
Driscoll declined to provide the names of the children or disclose if they are related to Candelaria.
jpace@durangoherald.com
