Two Children Dead in Queens Van Crash

Two girls have died from a horrible van crash in St. Albans, Queens that occurred at 5 p.m. yesterday. Both were foster children: The first, a 15-year-old, died late Monday night, and the other, a 5-year-old died at 4:30 this morning. The Daily News reports that driver Shelia Bethea, 45, "crossed the double-yellow line on Dunkirk St. in Saint Albans while going between 60 and 70 miles an hour, slamming her minivan into another van."

Three other girls remain in the hospital. Bethea claimed to be driving the five children in the van to a local foster care office. WABC 7 says that "not all of them [the children] were wearing seat belts," and many witnesses claim to have seen Bethea speeding. One witness tells NY1, "The Mazda truck was coming on to Dunkirk like 55-60 miles per hour, fast. So, the Honda truck was turning onto Arcade. The car did not stop. So they hit each other and the car flew onto the sidewalk over there. And when I came out, on the phone with the cops, the driver hopped out and was stumbling around looking for her stuff."

Bethea claims that she has "a bad leg" and her foot got stuck to the gas pedal. It's unclear whether Bethea was the foster mother of the children in the van, but a woman claiming to be one of the girls' birth mother said "I'm in shock," while at the 103rd Precinct this morning. Bethea has been charged with reckless endangerment.