5 killed, including 3 children, in a crash on a Colorado highway

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FRANKTOWN, Colo. (AP) — Five people were killed, including three children, in a crash on a Colorado highway on Monday, authorities said.

The crash happened just after 4:30 p.m. when the driver of a Toyota Matrix, which had been reported stolen about an hour earlier, lost control in the Franktown area south of Denver, the Colorado State Patrol said in a news release.

The Toyota went off the right shoulder, then returned to the roadway and rolled onto the northbound lane, where it hit a northbound Ford Fusion head-on. The 31-year-old man Denver man who was driving the Toyota was ejected when the vehicle started to roll and he died on the scene, the state patrol said.

Five children ranging in age from 8 to 14, all from Colorado Springs, were traveling in the Ford. Three of the children and the driver, a 35-year-old Colorado Springs man, died on the scene, the state patrol said. Two other children, a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, were flown to an area hospital with injuries that were considered life-threatening.

Initially, authorities believed a pickup truck that stopped just short of the crash was also involved, but the state patrol says they later determined that it was not.

The crash is under investigation. The Douglas County Coroner will identify those who died once all next of kin have been notified, the state patrol said.