Car, Fire Truck Crash Injures Nine

Four firefighters have less severe injuries after crash near 128th and Halsted

UPDATE: DUI Charges Filed

Officials are investigating the cause of a Tuesday night collision that injured three children, two adults and four Chicago firemen.

Alcohol may have played a role in the crash between a Chicago Fire Department truck and a sedan at the intersection of West 128th Place and South Halsted Street on Chicago's Far South Side, according to the Chicago Tribune

A source told the Tribune the sedan driver's blood-alcohol concentration was over the limit.

Four firefighters were transported to Metro South Medical Center following the crash. Four of the civilians were taken to Advocate Christ Hospital and Medical Center. A fifth was transported to John H. Stroger Jr., Hospital of Cook County.

Fire department spokesman Larry Langford said the five injured are three children under the age of 15 and two young adults. They were trapped inside the vehicle and had to be cut out.

Authorities said the vehicle was stopped at the intersection, apparently to wait for the fire truck, and then started moving again.

"All I heard was the truck tires squealing, like it was trying to stop, and then you heard the loud boom, and that's when it hit the car," said witness La'Monte Fryer, adding that the intersection is prone to accidents.

None of the injuries is believed to be life-threatening.

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