Authorities say a semi-truck driver was speeding and had YouTube playing while behind the wheel when he slammed into a family of five, killing a mother and two children.
Olga Sorbalo, 35, and her children, Luis, 8, and Samir, 4, died Monday as the family traveled to the airport to return home to Vancouver, Washington, after visiting relatives in Kansas City, according to The Kansas City Star.
Olga’s husband, Liviu, and the couple’s youngest child were taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Semi-truck driver Eldar Skander, 39, struck the family’s Honda Odyssey at “a high rate of speed,” setting off a chain-reaction crash involving three other vehicles, court documents state. Investigators found “no signs of emergency braking by the semi-truck.”
A responding investigator “grabbed an electronic tablet off the [truck’s] floorboard that was open to the YouTube application,” according to the documents.
“The tablet had Velcro that matched the Velcro on the center dashboard of the semi-truck cabin that was viewable by the driver.”
Skander, a Chicago resident who suffered only minor injuries, is a Ukrainian national who entered the United States illegally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. The agency announced that he is being held on an immigration detainer.
“ANOTHER BIDEN-RELEASED ILLEGAL ALIEN INVOLVED IN CRASH THAT KILLED THREE AMERICANS,” ICE said in a statement.
“Reckless open-border policies have resulted in countless preventable tragedies.
“Three more innocent American lives were lost. Two children who will never get to grow up, and a mother who will never get to watch them grow. These deaths were tragic and preventable. No other family should have to endure this loss.
“This is our WHY.”
Skander faces three counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter. Authorities had not immediately determined when he entered the United States.
An online fundraiser for the surviving members of the Sorbalo family had collected more than $160,000 by Thursday.
“Liviu Sorbalo lost his beloved wife and two precious young children. This heartbreaking loss has left their entire family, relatives, friends, and church community in deep sorrow,” the fundraiser states. It adds that Olga was the daughter of a church minister in Vancouver.
“No amount of money can replace the lives that have been lost, but together we can help ease the financial burden and surround this family with love and care.”