Patterson Cemetery District, Stanislaus County, CA 

Submitted by Gale Stroud and Burta Herger 26 Aug 2007

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Nguyan Lillie 860721 p1
Girl Killed When Pickup Leaves I-5; A dramatic solo accident on I-5 Tuesday resulted in the death of a five year old
Vietnamese girl who with family members was thrown from the cab of a small pickup that tumbled down an
embankment, five miles south west of Patterson. If not for help from two passing motorists, the outcome would have been
worse. Trant Monge, 40 and Richard Daly of Long Island, N.Y. were traveling southbound on I-5 and watched a pickup
in front of them blow a rear tire, swerve erratically and plunge off the freeway. The pickup, with camper shell, was
packed with three adults and three young children.  Furniture and luggage was loaded in the back. "We saw bodies flying
out as it rolled down the hill," said Monge, who was on vacation with his friend. The two pulled over and rushed down
the embankment.  A fire had started choking the accident scene with smoke and heat. Daly found two young girls lying
dangerously close to the fire, and pulled them to safety.  Monge grabbed the other and helped the mother who was lying
stunned in a ditch. Holding the child, Monge led the woman up the steep 50-foot embankment. Two other adults, came up
the hill on their own. "The adults were in shock," Monge said.  "If the kids hadn't been pulled out they'd be dead." The
lifeless body of the five year old girl, Lillie Nguyan of Baldwin Park, was found under luggage by firefighters who
arrived at the scene and extinguished the flames. Monge said he did not see the girl when he helped the others. Stanislaus
County Coroner's office had not determined the cause of death by Wednesday morning.  But firemen said the girl
appeared to have been crushed by the rollover. Injured were Lillie's father, Long Nguyan; mother Nam Thi; sisters Loan,
6 and Linda, 4.  The driver Khonghoa Tran, 29, of Santa Ana was also hurt. Ambulances from Patterson and Newman,
and two from Modesto were called to the wreck.  Paramedics stabilized victims on the roadside. Firemen from Patterson
and California Division of Forestry on Sperry Avenue stopped the fire which burned a 500-foot-strip along the
embankment. The young girls appeared most serious and were flown by Medi-flight helicopter to North Memorial
Hospital in Modesto.  However, a nurse at Memorial said the children received only minor injuries and are doing fine.
Tran, who suffered a neck injury was listed in serious condition at Scenic General Hospital in Modesto.  Nam Nguyan
was also taken by ambulance to Scenic and was in fair condition. The father, Long Nguyan, who was walking at the
scene, is alright. Witnesses said the pickup was traveling about 65 miles per hour when the tire blew.