Passenger: Overloaded van’s riders pleaded to slow down

WASHINGTON, Ind. (AP) – A man who was aboard an overloaded van that overturned on a southwestern Indiana highway, killing two people, says he and the van’s other passengers had screamed and yelled at the driver to slow down.

Ernst Auguste tells the Evansville Courier & Press the driver told the passenger to be quiet as the 16-passenger van loaded with 24 people barreled down Interstate 69.

The 59-year-old Auguste says he and the others “started praying, ‘God, God, God!’”

He says the van was changing lanes along the highway in Gibson County when it blew a tire and then rolled over three to four times.

The investigation into the crash that killed two women who were passengers is continuing.

Authorities say the driver could face charges in the Sept. 24 crash.