Officials: 2 injured in work van, minibus crash

Eight passengers on a minibus carrying special needs adults were taken to hospitals for observation after a morning rush-hour crash with a commercial van Tuesday in Dix Hills, fire officials said.

Two people in the van were taken to Huntington Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, a spokesman for the Dix Hills Fire Department said. The minibus passengers were taken to Huntington Hospital and Plainview Hospital.

There were no serious injuries in the collision at 8:25 a.m. at the Long Island Expressway’s North Service Road and Commack Road, the spokesman said.

Fire officials said in addition to responders from Dix Hills, other departments responding included EMS personnel from the Melville, Greenlawn and North Babylon fire departments, as well as crews from the Commack Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Wyandanch-Wheatley Heights Ambulance Corps, and a Suffolk County EMS Major Response Emergency Vehicle.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”