Four adults and one child were injured this afternoon, July 3, when a minivan struck a fireworks tent outside the Twin City Walmart Supercenter, 650 S. Truman Blvd., authorities reported.
Cpl. Dallas Thompson, a spokesperson for the Missouri State Highway Patrol, said five people inside the fireworks stand were injured, including a 41-year-old man who was critically injured.
Thompson said those moderately injured were a 6-year-old boy, a 41-year-old woman, a 47-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man. He did not know where they were from.
He said the accident occurred at about 4:30 p.m. when the 84-year-old male driver of the minivan backed out of the parking lot and accelerated too hard, hitting the back end of a parked vehicle that was unattended.
“Upon impact of that vehicle – I’m not sure why but – he stayed on the gas … I don’t know if it was confusion or what, but he stayed on the gas, continued toward the fireworks stand and drove into the fireworks stand, striking the five individuals who were inside.”
Thompson said a Festus Police officer was already on the scene because the 84-year-old driver had just been involved in a fender-bender in the parking lot.
“Festus (Police) had come, taken an accident report, finished that and the man was backing out to leave when this happened,” Thompson said.
Festus Police Sgt. John Beffa said he helped free a man who was trapped underneath the vehicle that struck the tent. He believes all victims were taken to area hospitals by Joachim-Plattin Ambulance District.
Thompson said the Highway Patrol conducted a full crash reconstruction and will post the crash report online.
He said the fireworks stand did have the appropriate concrete blocks barriers around it.
“(The van) actually kind of hit the edges of two of them, kind of just went in the middle of them and pushed them out of the way,” he said.
In addition to Festus Police, Crystal City Police officers also responded, as did firefighters from the Crystal City and Festus fire departments and the Jefferson R-7 fire protection district.