Third victim dies following Nov. 12 church van rollover crash
BAKER CITY, Ore. -- A third person who was a passenger in a Nov. 12 fatal van rollover crash on Interstate 84 about five miles west of Baker City has died, Oregon State Police report.
According to Ada County Coroner's Office, PHILLIP JOEL HARRIS, age 24, from Attalla, Ala., died early Sunday morning at a Boise-area hospital where he was being treated since the crash.
On Nov. 12 at 5:20 a.m. a 2002 Ford F-350 van with 16 occupants was westbound on Interstate 84 near milepost 302 on icy highway conditions when it drove off the roadway and rolled multiple times. The van came to rest on its top about 50 yards from the westbound lanes near a bordering frontage road. Two passengers died as a result of the initial crash and 14 others were transported to hospitals in La Grande, Baker City and Boise for treatment of injuries.
Five passengers, including HARRIS, were last reported in the Intensive Care Unit at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. The conditions of the other four passengers who were at the Boise-area hospital were not available.
OSP troopers from the Baker City office are continuing the investigation with the assistance of OSP collision reconstructionists.
The van was reportedly registered to New Life Worship Center in Federal Heights, Colo., and affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Masters Commission. The group was reported to be en route to Portland.
