3 injured, 1 critically, in 4-car crash near Marengo

A man was airlifted and two other people were taken to the hospital after a four-car crash near Marengo Friday afternoon.

The Marengo Fire & Rescue Districts were called out to a crash scene, just west of the Route 20 and Thorne Road intersection, at about 4:20 p.m. Friday, Marengo Fire & Rescue Districts Public Information Officer Alex Vucha said.

[ Photos: First responders at the scene of Marengo-area crash ]

Firefighters found a serious collision involving four vehicles. One of them was overturned, Vucha said.

Officials activated a Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, or MABAS, response and requested a medical helicopter, Vucha said.

Two people inside the overturned vehicle were seriously injured. A man in the vehicle was airlifted to Javon Bea Hospital-Riverside in Rockford with critical injuries, and a woman in the vehicle was taken to Northwestern Huntley Hospital with serious injuries.

A man driving a pickup truck involved the crash was taken to OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford with minor injuries. Paramedics evaluated three other people in the crash; they declined further medical treatment, Vucha said. All people had exited their vehicles before emergency crews arrived; nobody had to be extricated, Vucha said.

The Marengo Fire & Rescue Districts received several other unrelated calls while responding to the crash and neighboring agencies handled those calls.

The crash remains under investigation by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, Vucha said.