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Parents Only Injured In Accident; Son Killed

November 1, 2005

Two parents are still in the hospital after their involvement in an accident on Friday that took the life of their young son and another motorist. An Everett woman was also killed in Friday's I-5 wreck.

Kenny Ng and Laura Chiu, a married couple, were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where they were both listed in serious condition on Saturday evening.

The couple from Vancouver, B.C., sustained serious injuries in the crash on I-5 Friday afternoon but the accident killed Alexander Ng, their 10-year-old son.

Everett resident Susan McGaughran also was killed in the wreck. McGaughran's GMC Yukon was just going under the Highway 534 overpass heading south at about 3 p.m. when it was struck by another southbound vehicle, according to the State Patrol.

The other car headed south was a Nissan Sentra, being driven by David Baker of Oak Harbor. Baker was the only occupant of his car and he was not injured.

After the Yukon and the Sentra made contact, the impact drove the Yukon across the grass median and into the Interstate's northbound lanes.

It was in the northbound lane that the sport utility vehicle collided with the Toyota Avalon carrying Chiu, Ng and three children.

Alexander Ng and McGaughran, 50, were killed instantly in the accident. McGaughran was not wearing a seat belt, according to the patrol.

Although their injuries were less severe than that of their family members', Beverly and Christopher Ng, both age 6, also sustained injuries from the crash.

Christopher Ng was airlifted by helicopter to Harborview,. He is now listed in satisfactory condition.

Beverly Ng was treated for minor injuries and was released from Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon.

Kenny Ng, 51, is still in Harborview's intensive care unit in serious condition. When he was first brought into the hospital he was listed in critical condition.

Ng's wife Laura Chui, 43, who was rushed initially to Skagit Valley Hospital with Beverly, was later transferred to Harborview. Chui has been listed in serious condition.

Officers diverted northbound traffic around the accident for about 12 hours while they investigated. State Patrol Troopers said investigators were still not clear exactly why McGaughran crossed the median.

Following the crash, state transportation officials could already see parts of that stretch of I-5 that could be improved stemming from the accident.

A spokesman for the State Department of Transportation said that they have drawn up plans to a cable barrier between the north and southbound lanes on the stretch, just south of Mount Vernon this fall.

The $30 million project will pull its funding out of the 3-cent gas tax increase, said the State Department of Transportation. The barriers will also be implemented in several other sections of Washington roadways, all of which were selected based on crash data.

Although some projects have been put on hold because of Initiative 912, which is a movement to repeal the increase, the installation of the barriers is one that has been unaffected.

The cable barrier acts as a wall that would absorb the force of a crash and keep off-course vehicles from crossing into oncoming traffic during a collision.

According to the department, the barriers would hopefully cause a car to stop in the grass median and not ricochet into traffic after an accident.