It was supposed to be a day dedicated to sharing their faith and serving others. It turned into a nightmarish wreck at one of Habersham County’s most dangerous intersections.
Saturday afternoon, a van carrying nine members of River Point Community Church and an SUV collided on GA 365 at Demorest-Mt. Airy Highway.
It was the final day of River Point’s local community mission project, ‘Serve Wknd 2024.’ Two church vans were traveling together when an SUV struck one of them on the passenger’s side.
River Point Pastor Kevin Mangum tells Now Habersham two adults and seven teenagers were onboard the van involved in the wreck. Five of the teens were injured. Of those, one was airlifted to Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta in critical condition, and two others were transported to Atlanta-area children’s hospitals.
The other injured patients were transported to area hospitals. Mangum says the two adults were physically fine but “shocked” by the accident.
“Our student ministry is on a local mission trip this week in Habersham County doing some service projects around the county, going from one destination to another at that point,” Mangum said. He is unsure exactly where they were headed at the time of the wreck.
The crash happened around 1:39 p.m. on June 29. It shut down the southbound lanes of GA 365 near the intersection for several hours as emergency personnel tended to the injured, and state troopers investigated the crash.
The Georgia State Patrol has not released details of the accident. The names of the drivers and those who were injured have not been released.
Mangum says the church is grateful for the community’s prayers.
“My biggest statement would just be to encourage the community of folks in Habersham County to be praying for the students that are still being treated and their families because it was a very traumatic incident.”
