Crime & Safety

Police: Pregnant Mother, Elderly Woman Die After Farmington Route 6 Crash

The other adult and three children injured are still recovering in area hospitals.

By Jessie Sawyer

A pregnant mother driving the van involved in the Route 6 crash in Farmington on Columbus Day and an elderly passenger in the other car both have died due to life-threatening injuries from the accident. 

Ambulances had rushed Melinda Hart, 27, of Bristol, and Ruth Carroll, 86, of Bristol, to UConn Health Center in Farmington on Monday, Oct. 14 after the 12:33 p.m. two-car accident near the Hyde Road intersection.

Hart was eight months pregnant at the time of the crash and "her unborn fetus also did not survive the accident," Farmington police Lt. Colin Ryan said in a press release Tuesday morning.

Hart's three children in the van were hospitalized, including an 8-year-old boy who Life Star airlifted to the ICU at Hartford Hospital and a 4- and 6-year-old transported via ambulance to St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. Police have not released the names of the children.

Ruth Carroll's husband, Robert, 85, who was driving the sedan involved in the crash, was taken by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital. 

The 8-year-old is now recovering at Connecticut Children's Medical Center and Carroll is still in the care of St. Francis Hospital. Police said there is no update on their injuries at this time. 

St. Francis has since released the other two children to family members, police said.


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