By: Jeff Noble

Editor

A bizarre accident in the lower end of town Tuesday afternoon has left a Jackson woman dead, after she was run over by the car she was working on.

23-year-old Dana Smith of Main Street died shortly after the late-model Chevrolet Lumina she was repairing rolled over her. Jackson Fire and Rescue report that Smith was having trouble with her car, and was underneath the vehicle, trying to fix it. They report that it looked as if she was trying to cross over her starter. The Lumina, equipped with an automatic transmission, was in gear. In their report, Fire and Rescue say that it appeared that the neutral switch evidently wasn’t working, when it ran over her.

A Jackson City School Bus came upon the scene of the accident shortly afterward. A bus monitor was walking one of Smith’s children from the bus to her mother’s house when they saw what happened. The monitor called the bus driver for help, and the driver called 911. The 911 call was relayed to the Jackson Police Department and the Jackson Fire Department. Jackson Fire and Rescue got the call at 1:55 p.m., and sent eight firefighters to the scene to assist. Those firefighters at the scene used air bags to lift the vehicle off Smith. Also assisting City Police and Fire crews were the Breathitt County Sheriff’s Office, the County Coroner’s Office, and crews from Transtar Ambulance and McIntosh Ambulance.

Smith was declared dead at the scene by the Breathitt County Coroner, who ruled the death as accidental. “It was a tragic accident,” said Steve Bowling, Public Relations Officer of Jackson Fire and Resuce. “It was one of those freak occurrences that happens. There’s now several children who are motherless.”

City police were at the scene Wednesday morning to impound the car and to investigate further.

Breathitt Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.