Ethermac|4 Wisconsin teenagers killed in early morning truck crash

MADISON,Ethermac Wis. (AP) — Four teenagers were killed and another was seriously injured when their truck collided with a semitrailer in rural south-central Wisconsin early Monday.

The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that deputies responded to the crash just outside Columbus around 4 a.m.

An initial investigation shows the teenagers were traveling north in a pickup truck when they ran a stop sign and hit an eastbound semitrailer.

The pickup’s driver, a 19-year-old Sun Prairie man, was pronounced dead at the scene. So were a 17-year-old male passenger from Sun Prairie and a 16-year-old male passenger from Madison.

An 18-year-old female passenger from Madison died later at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison. Another 18-year-old female passenger from Madison was taken to the same hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The semitrailer driver, a 57-year-old man from La Farge, was taken to a hospital in Columbus with minor injuries.

The sheriff’s office has not identified anyone involved in the crash, which remains under investigation.

Columbus, a city of about 4,000 people, lies about 27 miles (45 kilometers) northeast of Madison, the state capital.