5-year-old boy ejected from van in Kansas City rollover crash

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A 5-year-old boy was ejected from a vehicle during a rollover crash that closed three lanes of traffic on US 71 Highway in Kansas City, investigators on the scene told 41 Action News.

The crash happened a little after 9 a.m. in the southbound lanes near 55th Street, a police spokesman said. Traffic remained blocked on the highway for several hours.

According to police, the female driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel, swerved and overcorrected when she woke up.

The white van she was driving then went up and embankment and tumbled back down, landing back on the highway, investigators said.

The boy was strapped into a car seat, a police officer on the scene told 41 Action News, but the car seat was not properly fastened into the vehicle.

Authorities initially reports the boy sustained life-threatening injuries, but later said he was expected to make a full recovery. The mother and a 6-year-old girl were also seriously injured and expected to recover.

We are working to gather more details and will post them here as soon as they become available.