Pickup hits Texas school van; girl dies

TRINITY, Texas — A 7-year-old girl died Thursday when a school van that had stopped to pick up children was rear-ended by a truck on a rural east Texas highway, officials said, and 10 students and the van driver were injured.

The Trinity County sheriff’s office identified the child on its Facebook page as Journey Magness, daughter of Deputy David Magness.

Authorities in Trinity County, about 75 miles north of Houston, believe the uninjured 17-year-old driver was temporarily blinded by the sun as her pickup traveled over a hill and crashed into the stopped van about 7:30 a.m.

“The best as we can tell, the sun is going to play a big, major role in this,” Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace said.

The 7-year-old girl was riding in the van and died at a hospital.

Ten children from the van and the pickup — ages 5 to 15 — were taken to a hospital, along with the van driver, East Texas Medical Center spokesman Rebecca Berkley said. All were treated and released by Thursday afternoon, Berkley said.