A Labor Day weekend outing turns deadly Saturday

An accident in the ATV Park at Indian Mountain Saturday afternoon at 3:45 resulted in 7 children being injured, 2 adults fatally injured.

Cherokee County Coroner Paul McDonald was called to the scene to pronounce the male driver of a RZR side by side ATV deceased. An adult female passenger was critically injured and airlifted to a Birmingham trauma center where she succumbed to her injuries.

A total of 4 medical helicopters were brought to the scene with some victims being airlifted to Birmingham with one going to UAB Medical Center and 3 Children going to Children’s of Alabama. 4 children were transported by ground ambulance to Atrium Floyd in Rome, Ga. The children range in age from 1 to 12 years.

Due to the remote location and the number injuries, it took more than 2 hours for the last subjects to be transported. The last 3 children were transported by ground ambulance to Atrium Floyd in Rome according to final report from Spring Garden Fire Chief.

Spring Garden Fire, Piedmont Rescue and Ambulance, Atrium Floyd EMS , Cherokee County Sheriff’s deputies, and the Cherokee County Coroner’s Office responded with assistance provided by Cherokee County EMA.

EMA Director Shawn Rogers declared the situation a “Mass Casualty” incident due to the number of patients and the complexity of the scene. Rogers tells WEIS Radio News, this declaration allows All responding emergency personnel to be able to perform certain actions outside the normal policies and procedures to make sure things are done to provide the best response coordination, on-scene operations, and recovery under the extremely difficult circumstances.

Cherokee County Coroner Paul McDonald tells WEIS Radio News the injuries and fatalities were as a result of two ATV’s initially colliding, prior to the male driver of one vehicle speeding away from the collision site down a trail about 150 feet before rolling over and striking a tree, fatally injuring the driver. The other eight occupants of that vehicle were also injured, one fatally.

There were two passengers in the other vehicle, who were not injured, although the vehicle sustained significant damage.

Witnesses and bystanders used another ATV to roll over the crashed vehicle to rescue the entrapped victims.

All victims in the overturned RZR vehicle were from Rome. No names have been released at this time. The investigation into the incident continues by the Coroner’s Office and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.