SpringfieldNewsSun.com

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Two children were pulled from a crushed minivan and rushed to the hospital following a three-vehicle accident on I-70 West last night.

Their injuries did not appear to be life threatening, an investigating officer said.

A Honda Oddysey Minivan was sandwiched between two tractor-trailers on I-70 about half a mile west of Ohio 72 after the crash Friday night, Aug. 8. The front of the van was lodged beneath the back of the trailer of one truck, and the cabin of the truck in the rear was firmly lodged in the rear of the van, where the children had been seated.

Trooper Grady Coblentz with the Ohio Highway Patrol said he was nearby at an earlier crash when he witnessed the accident. Around 7:30 p.m., traffic was already backed up due to construction when the driver of the rear truck attempted to pull into the right-hand lane, Coblentz said. It struck the van and pushed it into the tractor-trailer in front, which was halted because of the road construction.

"I looked in my mirror to get over, and next thing I know I hit them," said Robert Trammel, who drove the rear truck. "I was only traveling 10 or 15 miles an hour. Looks like I hit them going a hundred miles an hour."

About 20 rescue workers with the Springfield Township Fire Department worked for an hour to free a 14-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy inside the van. Parents Glenn and Dawn Behnreh, of Pennsylvania, paced the grassy median near the vehicles, bleeding from minor injuries.

Their 15-year-old daughter paced too, her dog, Munchkin, held on a leash a bystander had given her. Scattered in the grass around them were their belongings that rescuers had thrown from the van while trying to reach the children.

Rescuers freed the children after cutting off the roof of the van, and then prying the back of it open using chains and an emergency truck.

The children were rushed to Children's Medical Center in Dayton – the girl by helicoptor, the boy by ambulance. Both were talking and alert after the accident.

"We got very lucky on this one," Coblentz said. "Honestly, I thought it would be worse."

Charges against Trammel are pending, Coblentz said. Both westbound lanes were closed for about an hour and a half.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0367 or ecavallaro@coxohio.com.