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Car Slides Into Rain-Swollen Ditch in Houston

Posted on Apr 20, 2009

Five children are missing and presumed dead following a car accident in Houston. According to authorities, the car that they were traveling in slid into a rain-swollen ditch after the driver lost control of the sedan while he was trying to answer his cell phone.

The sedan had fallen into Greens Bayou near George Bush International Airport during heavy thunderstorms in the area that caused flash floods. Assistant Chief Omero Longoria of the Houston Fire Department said that they are currently in recovery mode and are looking for bodies.

Two girls, ages 1 and 3, and three boys, ages 4, 6 and 7, are still missing. According to police, two men and a 10-year-old girl were able to get out of the Lincoln Town Car and are in good condition.

The accident occurred at approximately 5:00 PM. Chief Longoria said that by 8:00 PM, divers with the police department found the sedan in more than nine feet of water.

John Cannon, a Houston police spokesman, said that the driver, who is the father of four of the missing children, appeared to be drunk at the time of the accident and failed a sobriety test at the crash scene. The other man in the car, the driver’s brother, told police that the driver had attempted to answer his cell phone right before he lost control of the vehicle.

The heavy storms had dropped record amounts of rain throughout the afternoon, as much as 5 to 6 inches in some areas. Interstate 45 had to be shut down, which caused traffic throughout the city.