HOUSTON (AP) - Authorities say five Houston children have died after their sedan slid into a rain-swollen ditch when the driver lost control while trying to answer a cell phone.
Houston Fire Assistant Chief Omero Longoria said in the online edition of the Houston Chronicle that rescue workers found the car in a drainage ditch filled with 9 feet of water about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, about 100 feet from where the driver lost control 2 1/2 hours earlier.
John Cannon, a Houston police spokesman, said the driver was the father of four of the children. Cannon said the driver was being taken for blood-alcohol testing.
Houston television station KTRK reported that police said the dead children included 1- and 3-year-old girls and three boys, ages 4, 6 and 7.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.