ETNA GREEN – Three people were killed and two injured in a vehicle crash Thursday night on U.S. 30 in Etna Green.
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department deputies and emergency personnel responded at approximately 10:24 p.m. Thursday to the intersection of U.S. 30 and Ind. 19 in regards to a 911 call of a vehicular crash.
Officers and fireman arrived on the scene and summoned the Kosciusko County Coroner’s Office shortly afterward. Kosciusko County Coroner Anthony Ciriello pronounced Ramesh Chand, 70, Elmhurst, N.Y., and Subhash Sood, 69, Fort Wayne, deceased at the scene.
Kosciusko County Fatal Alcohol Crash Team members arrived and preliminarily determined that a white 2013 Dodge van, driven by Samita Sood, 37, Fort Wayne, had been traveling eastbound on U.S. 30 and then turned northbound at the intersection of Ind. 19.
According to KCSD Public Information Officer Sgt. Chad Hill, the passengers in the van were following another vehicle after a day of shopping at the outlet mall in Michigan City. They were following another vehicle after getting gas at the Marathon station at the intersection where the accident occurred.
Sood purportedly stated to officers that she saw the flashing yellow left-hand traffic signal light and proceeded to turn, but pulled directly into the path of a westbound UPS semi-tractor/trailer, driven by Robert F. Buesching, 52, Fort Wayne. Buesching was reportedly not injured.
Samita Sood, along with a passenger from her vehicle, Subhash Sodd, 68, Elmhurst, N.Y., was transported to Lutheran Hospital, Fort Wayne, in serious condition with abdominal pain.
A fifth passenger in the van, identified as Navedita Bhambhani, 46, Forest Hills, N.Y., was extricated from the vehicle and airlifted from the scene by Parkview Samaritan in critical condition. KCSD deputies were advised this morning that Bhambhani had succumbed to her injuries at Parkview Regional Medical Center, Fort Wayne.
Kosciusko County FACT members stated that the crash is still currently under investigation.
FACT members also were assisted at the scene by the Etna Green Fire Department, Bourbon Police Department, Mentone Police Department, Lutheran Kosciusko EMS and KCSD.
