Selah's Web Pages of Hope

Accident Report

On Thursday after school Melody and Selah were going to go to ballet practice in Fergus Falls, but because of the bad weather they decided to go home instead. Melody did however go to Detroit Lakes to do some errands and returned to Frazee to pick up Selah. They headed out of town heading north on county road 29. The roads were snow covered and icy, the wind blowing strongly with gusts up to 30 mph, snow still falling. They were going around a corner about one and a half miles from Frazee, MN. Melody said, "Selah said to her, Melody slow down and Selah put her hand up on the roof just above the windshield." She then lost control of the car on the icy snow-covered roads. The car slid sideways down the highway, before being hit broadside by a school bus (it was their school bus that they rode when they didn't drive).

According to the bus driver, he states, "as I approached the corner heading south the wind was blowing the snow around it looked like a snow squal coming at me and then he noticed some red in the snow, realizing that it was a car. All he could do was hit the brakes and try to turn.

The impact between the bus and car came on Selah's side of the car at the doorpost between the front and rear doors, with the force of impact moving mainly into the rear seats and back half of the car. The accident occured at about 5:43 PM, the Subaru that Melody and Selah were in was torn into three pieces with the front half of the car coming off just in front of Melody and Selah's feet, this included the engine, dash, and steering wheel, with this part of the car staying up on the highway. The now open cockpit of the car slid off the road approximately 20 to 30 yards with the girls secured to their seats with their seatbelts, this part of the car no longer had any wheels as the rear wheels and the floor of the back compartment of the little stationwagon also separated ending up about 20 feet from the section of the car where the girls were. The bus was sideways in the road with a broken front axle and bent frame, also totaled.

Pastor Jim Erb (the pastor that married us Steve and Tamie) came upon the scene shortly after it happened and began praying for the people in the car. The bus driver came down from a nearby driveway indicating an ambulance was on the way. Jim indicated it didn't take very long and the Frazee rescue squad was there and that he moved his truck so the headlights shown on the part of the car where the girls were, so they could see to get them out. Jim reported that they had them out in about 15 minutes and into the ambulance. "Both Melody and Selah were awake as the rescue workers removed them from the car, complaining of pain and telling them to stop moving them," Melody stated.

One of the rescue workers said that when they stopped on the road and stepped out they had a hard time standing because the road was so icy in that area.

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