Vehicle containing 6 kids flips

By Ali Bronsdon / Leader Staff

PABLO — The driver of a sedan carrying six children ages three to 10 years old swerved off Skyline Road and rolled into a canal south of Reservoir Road near Pablo Monday at 4:12 p.m., according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office and Montana Highway Patrol.

The driver was cited for careless driving. Ronan and Polson ambulances transported all seven passengers to the hospitals with what appeared to be minor injuries, Glenn Miller with the Lake County Sheriff's Department said.

Ronan resident Tim Gauthier stopped at the scene of the accident to lend a hand to one of the children, who was trapped.

"I saw a couple of kids come up over the bank," he said. "One was screaming [that] his sister was stuck in the car."

Gauthier said the child's grandmother was holding her head above the water, but she could barely breathe. So, he cut the carseat straps with his pocketknife and then helped the elderly woman and the three-year-old girl up the steep bank of the canal.

"It all happened pretty fast," he said. "I didn't hesitate. It was just a reaction that I had."

Ronan and Polson ambulances transported all seven passengers to the hospitals with what appeared to be minor injuries, Glenn Miller with the Lake County Sheriff's Department said.

Jim Sanderson with Montana Highway Patrol said the children were picked up from the bus stop and were heading home to Pablo when the accident occurred.

"They were not all wearing seatbelts, but by the time the vehicle entered the canal the speed was low, so it was not a violent rollover," he said.