Owasso Police: Distracted Driving May Have Caused Wreck That Killed Child

A child died in a multi-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 169 in Owasso Thursday morning, according to police. First responders had a moment of silence as the child's body was recovered.

According to the Owasso Police Department's Facebook page, an eight-year-old girl was killed and two other people were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Deputy Chief of Police Jason Woodruff says they are an adult and another child.

Distracted driving may have contributed to the accident, Woodruff said in a news release Thursday afternoon. Police believe one of the drivers may have been distracted and did not see that traffic had slowed down due to congestion, rear ending the other vehicles.

The crash took place just after 7:30 a.m. and closed the southbound lanes of U.S. 169 between 76th Street North and 86th Street North in Owasso.

At least four vehicles were involved in the crash, two cars and two pickups, with two of them coming to rest on their sides in the middle of the highway.

One of the pickups was pulling a trailer. 

"An official cause of the accident will not be released until the accident reconstructionist has completed the reports, which may take several days or weeks," Woodruff said.

Woodruff did not release the names of the people involved in the wreck or the cause of the driver's possible distraction. Police will continue to investigate, he said.

Owasso Police rerouted southbound traffic onto the frontage roads at 86th Street North. Northbound traffic on U.S. 169 was restricted to one lane.