LYMAN, Miss. (AP) -- Three people were killed and 12 others were injured when a car heading south on Mississippi 53 toward U.S. 49 rear-ended a van, spun into the other lane and was hit in the side by a northbound vehicle, according to the Highway Patrol.
All three fatalities occurred in the southbound car, which immediately caught fire after being struck by the northbound vehicle Wednesday night. The names of the victims were not immediately released pending notification of relatives, the patrol said.
The van, which had just left Lakeview Independent Baptist Church, was forced off the road and flipped once before stopping. All seven people in the van and all five in the northbound car were injured but two declined treatment, a Highway Patrol spokesman said. The extent of the injuries was not available.
The van was driven by Joel Ladner of Saucier, said his father, Leonard. Joel Ladner, his wife Dana, their two teenage children and three other children had been attending services at the church before the accident.
''They usually have a load of children that ride back and forth to church with them,'' the elder Ladner said.
Mississippi 53 was closed while patrol officers, firefighters and medical technicians cleared the scene.
