A 15-year-old Stanfield teen died early Tuesday morning from injuries suffered in an automobile accident Monday afternoon near Dayton, Wash.

The story about this accident in The Hermiston Herald Saturday, July 5, is incorrect.

Chianne Griffin-Gaede died at 1:50 a.m. while in surgery at Harbor View Medical Center in Seattle, said a nursing supervisor at Harborview Medical Center.

Family friend Scott Morris said Tuesday family members of Griffin-Gaede still were in Seattle and funeral arrangements were pending.

Griffin-Gaede was a passenger in a 1992 Honda Accord driven by Heather Hancock, 19, of Boardman. The accident occurred about 12:20 p.m. Monday afternoon when the Honda was westbound on Highway 12 near Milepost 376. Three vehicles were stopped for construction near Willow Creek, including a semi-truck driven by 26-year-old Christopher Curn, who was parked at the end of the line of vehicles.

Hancock was traveling at highway speed when she failed to see the stopped vehicles ahead of her, said Washington State Patrol Sgt. Al Escalera. She attempted to correct to the left and hit a forklift, which was hanging off the back of one of the two flatbed trailers attached to Curn's semi. The semi was a sod hauler and the forklift was mounted behind the back trailer.

"The right front and right passenger side of the vehicle went under a portion of the forklift and the rear trailer," said Escalera.

Griffin-Gaede sustained head and neck injuries. Sgt. Ed McAvoy, WSP public information officer, was on the scene when Dayton emergency services arrived. He said both EMTs and firefighters worked hard to get the teen out of the wreckage as quickly as possible.

"They had to cut quite a bit of material to remove her," McAvoy said. "The medics and firefighters did an outstanding job."

Her injuries were critical enough that emergency teams could not wait for MedStar to get to the scene. Amublance attendants took her to Dayton General Hospital, where doctors attempted to stabilize her. Escalera said doctors had her airlifted to Kadlec Medical Center in Richland, Wash., where doctors again worked to stabilize her. Griffin-Gaede then was airlifted to Harbor View.

"We believe the driver was distracted by her passenger and did not see the parked vehicles," Escalera said.

Hancock was transported to St. Mary's Medical Center in Walla Walla, Wash., where she was treated and released. Curn was not injured.

Escalera said everyone involved in the crash was wearing seat belts. The crash still was being investigated.

The accident illustrates, McAvoy said, how, in a split second, being distracted can cause an accident.