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3 Injured After Truck, Minivan Collide In Bucks County

By Elizabeth Hur

BRISTOL, Pa. (CBS) -- It was a close call for a family in Bristol, Bucks County.

A truck slammed into their minivan on Route 413 and flipped over. Chopper 3 was over the scene near I-95 Tuesday afternoon.

Miraculously, officials say a father, mother and their son in the minivan survived that crash with only minor injuries.

Tuesday night, Eyewitness News spoke to one of the first responders who raced to the scene.

"Everything was on their side today. Everything from the way the truck stopped, where it rested, they were lucky, they were lucky," recalled Bristol Township Fire Marshal Kevin Dippolito, "The parents who were the front seat passengers of the minivan had already self extricated themselves. So it was just the teenage boy who was in the middle row of the minivan that was still entrapped. I saw him hug a paramedic that was actually inside the van with him."

The 17-year-old could be seen from Chopper 3 thanking his rescuers before he and his parents were taken to the hospital.

According to police, the crash happened on Veterans Highway (Route 413) at Interstate 95 (I-95), in Bristol shortly before 3 p.m.

Police say a blue 2008 Mack trash truck was traveling east while exiting I-95. The trash truck lost control and rolled over onto the top of a silver 2008 Honda Odyssey minivan, which was also traveling east exiting I-95 and had just turned left onto northbound Route 413. The minivan was occupied by a family of three which included the 52-year-old male driver, 51-year-old female and a 17-year-old male.

"Within 30 seconds of arriving on scene, a heavy duty wrecker happened to be passing by, I flagged him down, pulled him over, told him what I needed of him and he went right to work. We're thankful, you don't usually see a crash of that magnitude with such minor injuries so to speak," Dippolito said.

The driver of the trash truck was a 56-year-old male from Levittown, Bucks County. He was not injured in the crash. The roadway was closed until about 8:30 p.m. Police were assisted at the scene by Pennsylvania State Police, Bristol Township Fire Marshal's Office, Bristol Township Fire Police, Newportville Fire Company #1, Third District Fire Company, Levittown Fire Company #2, Edgely Fire Company and the Bucks County Rescue Squad.

Anyone with information about this crash is asked to call Bristol Township Police Traffic Safety Unit at 267-812-3026.

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