Eight killed in van rollover

Angie Wagner

Wednesday, March 8, 2000 | 5:34 a.m.

JEAN, Nev. - A van carrying 13 people plunged down a steep median and flipped over Wednesday as it headed toward Las Vegas. Eight people were killed, and five others injured.

The only person in the van wearing a seat belt was among the survivors, authorities said.

Bodies covered in blankets and quilts littered the median on Interstate 15 about 30 miles south of Las Vegas.

The large green 2000 Dodge van was registered in California to Rental Car Finance Corp., an Ohio company. Authorities said they did not immediately know the relationship of the people in the van.

A bottle of alcohol was found among suitcases and other items strewn around the scene, but the Nevada Highway Patrol said it was unknown whether alcohol played a role in the accident. Road conditions did not appear to have been a factor and no other vehicles were involved.

Seven of those killed were ejected from the van after the driver veered off the left side of the interstate, then overcorrected, the NHP said. The northbound van skidded across the road and down a steep gravel median, flipping several times.

"Nobody that left the vehicle survived," said NHP Capt. Jack Snyder.

The accident occurred shortly after 1 p.m. between the two hotel-casinos that straddle the interstate in the small community of Jean.

A spokeswoman at University Medical Center in Las Vegas said five people injured in the accident were airlifted to the hospital. She said three males in their 60s, a female in her 60s and a female in her 50s were being treated.

Three of the victims were in fair condition and the other two were being evaluated, she said.

Traffic on the busy interstate, which links Southern California with Las Vegas, was being diverted at the Jean offramp while rescue personnel and investigators worked at the scene.