FORT SMITH, Ark. (KFSM) — Fort Smith Police say several teens were involved in a serious car accident over the weekend and one is in serious condition after being ejected from the vehicle.
Four teenagers were involved in the accident at the corner of Jackson Street early Saturday (Nov. 16) morning.
Part of the road is a very steep hill and neighbors who live near the area say wrecks happen often, but never one this bad.
“I heard the noise, I’m thinking sometime around midnight. It was very loud. Ya know in the middle of the night you don’t really what it is. But literally, you felt it shake,” said neighbor Daniel Robbins.
The hill on Jackson Street is where the teenagers were traveling when the crash happened.
“It’s like a two-staged hill. You go over one top of it and you think you’re gonna start slowing down and then all of a sudden here it comes again. This year’s ago used to be a big sledding hill,” Robbins said.
Supervisor of Student Services for Fort Smith Public Schools Michael Farrell says counselors are on standby for anyone who may need to talk about the tragedy.
“In situations where there is, we use our resources. We use our partners, we use our school-based mental health therapists,” Farrell said.
Farrell says it's important for students to know that the school is always willing to help.
“We want to be the supportive force. They got their family who’s supportive and we want the school to be supportive just as much as the family is,” Farrell said.
With today being the first day back in class after the accident, Farrell says it was a hard time for both faculty and students.
“People think that nothing can happen. I think it’s sobering, it’s tragic and so any kind of any crisis that happens with students it just makes you take stock in the way things are going on and we try and take care of them as much as we can,” Farrell said.
Police have not released the names of the teenagers involved and at this time we know one of the passengers was flown to a hospital with serious injuries.
At this time police say alcohol is not suspected to be a factor at this point.