Four people killed in car-van collision

At least four people, including members of a Texas family coming home from a reunion in Reno, have been killed in a head-on collision just south of the Nye County border near Beatty.

The Wednesday afternoon accident between a van and a car killed the driver of the car and three of the seven people in the van, officials said.

Initial reports were that a fifth person was killed in the accident 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, but that could not be confirmed early today.

"It was just a terrible accident -- head-on, driver-to-driver," said Mildred Hankes, owner of the Pahrump Family Mortuary, the coroner of the month for Nye County.

Hankes said she took three bodies from the scene -- all of them passengers in the van -- and the other victims were flown to the University Medical Center, where one of them later died.

"We are still trying to determine who they are, so I don't have any names to release," Hankes said. "I can tell you that they are two women and one man, and that they were in a van that had Texas plates.

"They apparently were coming home from a family reunion in Reno."

In Nye County, sheriff's deputies serve as deputy coroners. The coroner, who writes out the death certificates and prepares bodies for burial, is from one of two funeral homes that share those duties on a monthly basis. If an autopsy is required in Nye County the body is sent to the Clark County Coroner, Hankes said.

The Clark County coroner confirmed today that it had one body, that of Jamie Jean Ericcson, 21, of Reno, who arrived at UMC by Flight For Life Wednesday from the accident 3 miles inside the Clark/Nye County borders.

UMC confirmed that Ericcson died some time after her arrival Wednesday night.

She apparently was the driver of the car, which had no other passengers.

A hospital spokesman said today that just four people arrived at the hospital from that accident.

One man was in critical condition today. Another man was in good condition. And a woman was in critical but stable condition.

The Nevada Highway Patrol has not yet determined the cause of the accident that occurred on U.S. 95 10 miles south of Beatty in Nye County shortly before 4:30 p.m.

The accident closed both lanes of traffic until 6 p.m., when one lane was reopened, the NHP said.

The accident remains under investigation.

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