3 dead, 10 injured in Missouri church van crash

BOLIVAR, Mo. — Three teenagers from Kansas were killed and 10 other people were injured Friday after a church van heading for an outing crashed in southwestern Missouri.

The wreck happened around 10:40 a.m. on Missouri Route 13, five miles north of Bolivar. Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. John Lueckenhoff said those killed were a 16-year-old boy from Olathe, a 14-year-old girl from Louisburg and a 17-year-old girl from Stillwell. Their names were not released.

The van was from Faith Chapel Assembly of God in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. Lueckenhoff didn’t know specifically where the group was going but was told it was a “youth outing.”

The van had 13 passengers, mostly teenagers but a few adults, Leuckenhoff said. Everyone on board was injured or killed when the van ran off the roadway, struck a tree and overturned. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.