Two children critical, seven others hospitalized after collision in Pierce County

Nine people were hospitalized, including two children who were clinging to life, after a two-vehicle collision near DuPont on Tuesday afternoon that catapulted a sport-utility vehicle across a concrete barrier dividing Interstate 5's north- and southbound lanes.

A 20-year-old Federal Way man driving a 1998 Honda Civic was arrested for investigation of attempted vehicular homicide and driving under the influence, trooper Brandy Kessler said.

State Patrol troopers say the accident was exacerbated, in part, because none of the nine people — including six children and two pregnant women — in a 2004 Ford Expedition was either wearing a seat belt or in a child restraint. The Expedition was hit from behind, struck a jersey barrier and rolled across the freeway, Kessler said.

As it rolled, two children, ages 3 and 6, and one of the pregnant women were ejected from the vehicle, Kessler said.

Both children were initially reported in critical condition at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma. The pregnant women, one 31 and the other 41, along with five others in the Expedition, suffered only minor injuries, Kessler said. Both women are Tacoma residents.

"This is a tragic reminder to wear your seat belts," Kessler said. "We're just hoping these kids survive."

Kessler added that everyone in the SUV could "have walked away from this with minor injuries," had they been wearing seat belts or been in child seats.

The accident began in the southbound lanes of I-5 near DuPont at about 1 p.m., when the Federal Way man lost control of his vehicle and struck the Expedition.

"It's supposed to hold eight," Kessler said of the Expedition, "but this one had nine."

Troopers shut down all but one lane of traffic on each side of the freeway while investigating the accident and clearing away the vehicles. Traffic was snarled for up to 12 miles southbound for more than four hours and up to 10 miles northbound for more than three hours, said state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Emily Pace.

Lewis Kamb: 206-464-2341 or lkamb@seattletimes.com

previous information published in this story, June 9, 2009, was corrected June 10, 2009. The accident vehicle was a Ford Expedition, not a Ford Explorer.