4-year-old killed in crash downtown

YOUNGSTOWN — An accident on Mahoning Avenue Friday evening claimed the life of a child and has an adult in police custody.

City police officers closed a portion of the street near the WRTA terminal for a few hours when they responded to an accident that killed a 4-year-old girl after she was ejected from the van she was riding in, authorities said. Authorities do not believe she was restrained by a seat belt. An accident investigator said she believes the van was involved in a hit-skip crash near Steel Street before the fatal accident. The driver is believed to have been trying to elude the driver of the first car, who may have been trying to obtain a license plate number when the van collided with a telephone pole and flipped over.

The Mahoning County Coroner’s office said Youngstown police notified its office, but a city police lieutenant said he had no information on the crash.