A total of five people were killed in a car crash on Highway 83 on Monday and three of those people were children, according to Colorado State Patrol.
Two other people, both children, were also airlifted to the hospital.
The collision happened at dusk near the intersection with South Russellville Road south of Franktown. That's east of Castle Rock in eastern Douglas County.
Douglas County
Two vehicles were involved, according to CSP. It started with a Toyota Matrix driving south on Highway 83 when it went onto the right shoulder. The driver overcorrected and rolled into northbound traffic, where it hit a Ford Fusion head-on. A Ford pickup truck driving behind the Fusion managed to stop just short of the crash. It is not clear exactly what caused the sedan to drive up onto that shoulder, but authorities later confirmed the Matrix was reported stolen out of Aurora on Monday afternoon.
According to the CSP, the 31-year-old Denver man driving the Matrix was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle when it rolled. He died at the scene.
The 35-year-old man from Colorado Springs driving the Fusion and three juvenile passengers in the back seat, an 8-year-old and a 12-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, were all killed in the crash. The 13-year-old girl in the front passenger seat and a 14-year-old boy in the back seat were both airlifted to the hospital with what are reported to be life-threatening injuries.
CSP said both the driver and the front passenger were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.
The identities of the people who died have not been released.
Highway 83 was closed in both directions after the crash for several hours while authorities investigated and crews worked to clear the scene.
There was also a separate car crash that was also affecting traffic in the Franktown area. At one point in the early evening, both Highway 86 and Highway 83 were both fully shut down.
Franktown Fire Rescue described the crashes in a social media post as "complex."
