COLLIN COUNTY — A violent accident in Collin County claimed the lives of three people from one family Friday morning.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers say the victims were driving south on State Highway 205 near Wylie in a white Honda minivan when a northbound white Hyundai sport utility vehicle crossed the center line and hit them head-on.
Troopers — who are accustomed to seeing car wrecks — used words like "awful" and "horrific" to describe what happened.
The powerful force of the crash ripped the engine out of the Hyundai.
Three people inside the Honda van died, including John and Margaret McIlvain and their 42-year-old daughter, Andrea Dunn, all of Nevada.
Dunn's four-year-old daughter Gabbe was strapped into a child safety seat and survived the impact.
Stacey DeChristopher and Courtney Gruner were on their way to a dental assistant school when they drove up on the accident scene just 30 seconds after it happened.
"We got the four-year-old out of the car," DeChristopher said. "We sat with her until paramedics got there."
Gruner rode in the ambulance with the little girl as DeChristopher followed.
"I just played with her a little bit, asked her her name and age," Gruner said.
The little girl is recovering from a broken arm at Children's Medical Center Dallas.
Steve Pruitt and Robert Jones heard the crash from the bays of the auto repair shop where they work. They ran out to help the victims.
"The two older ones, they weren't moving at all; they were gone," Pruitt said.
The two occupants of the Hyundai that caused the crash — 35-year-old Tommie Chambers and 15-year-old Ariel Langford, both of Wylie — were taken by ambulance to a Plano hospital with what are described as non-life-threatening injuries.
"What really got me was to see that motor completely out of that car," Pruitt said.
Troopers who are investigating the fatal crash say wet conditions Friday morning were a major factor. They believe the SUV hydroplaned, causing it to veer into oncoming traffic.
E-mail sstoler@wfaa.com
