3 Young Boys Killed After SUV Flips Over Into Michigan Pond

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A 1-year-old boy who was among three brothers trapped inside an SUV that rolled into a southwestern Michigan pond and flipped over has died, hours after the two older boys were pronounced dead, officials said Friday.

The Ottawa County Sheriff's Department announced that the boy who had been in critical condition since Thursday's crash had died. Officials said the boy's older brothers, ages 3 and 4, died in a hospital shortly after the crash. The children's mother survived and her injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Officials said the crash happened just after 11 a.m. Thursday in Holland Township, the Grand Rapids Press reported. They said the boys' mother was driving east when the SUV swerved into westbound lanes and jumped a curb before landing upside down in the pond.

The mother escaped, but the boys, strapped into their child-restraint seats, were trapped in the water that was about 3- to 4-feet (about 1 meter) deep, the department said. Ottawa County sheriff's deputies and Holland Township firefighters jumped into the water and, using a winch on a fire truck to stabilize the vehicle, pulled the boys out.

Sheriff's Capt. J. Douglas told The Associated Press that investigators were trying to determine how fast the vehicle was traveling when it struck the curb and whether any mechanical problems caused it to veer off the roadway. He said that there was no indication that alcohol was a factor but that blood-alcohol tests would be conducted.

The names of the mother and her sons have not been released.

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