THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 7, 1996 TAG: 9607070069
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 41 lines
A Norfolk teen in a federal job training program was in satisfactory condition Saturday after the van he was riding in crashed near Lynchburg on the Fourth of July.
Fred Rogers, 17, of the 3700 block of Karlin Ave., was thrown from a van carrying at least 13 members of the Old Dominion Job Corps.
The accident left one man dead and at least 11 others injured, state police said.
The crash occurred about 3 p.m. on Virginia Route 635 about 12 miles north of Lynchburg, police said.
The van was on its way back to Monroe, Va., after a pleasure drive through the country, according to state police.
Rogers was asleep in the back of the van when the accident occurred.
``When I woke up, the van was spinning because it had hit something,'' Rogers said in a telephone interview Saturday from Lynchburg General Hospital. ``It was like (the driver) was trying to get control of it, but he couldn't.''
``I blacked out, and when I woke up again, I was outside on the ground,'' he said.
Rogers said he has a fractured shoulder and some fractured bones in his spine. He also had a cut on his head that required stitches.
He hopes to be released from the hospital today, he said.
Rogers, who was a student at Booker T. Washington High School, said he has been a participant in the program since January.
The Job Corps is a federal, residential work training program for young people.
Harry Johnson, 35, of Bedford, was driving the van, state police said.
The 15-passenger van ran off the right side of the road coming out of a curve and hit a large rock, Ratliff said.
It then went across the highway and over an embankment, hit a tree and rolled over, Ratliff said. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
KEYWORDS: TRAFFIC ACCIDENT INJURIES by CNB