State Police say two brothers were killed about 5:45 Monday morning in a single-car crash on the Thruway in Manchester. The two children, ages nine and 11, were both ejected from the SUV when it rolled over and pronounced dead at the scene.
A man who was driving is in critical condition at Strong Memorial Hospital and the boys’ mother was treated at Strong for non-life threatening injuries. All the victims are said to be from the Buffalo area.
Troopers says the driver apparently clipped a guard rail, overcorrected and rolled the Nissan Pathfinder a number of times before it landed on its side in the right-hand lane. Neither of the boys was wearing a seatbelt and troopers say they might have survived the crash if they had.
A second vehicle may have inadvertently hit one of the children after he was flung from the car. State Police say they located a Honda about 10 miles away in Farmington whose driver thought she had run over some debris.
The accident blocked the westbound lanes between Geneva and Manchester. Police had to back up traffic including tractor-trailers to get them off at the closest service roads.