Nine-Year-Old Girl Injured in Multiple Car Freeway Crash Dies

The 9-year-old girl injured earlier this week in a multiple car pileup involving a semi truck and a logging truck died Saturday of her injuries, the Washington State Patrol reported.

Rachel Beckwith, 9, of Issaquah, suffered head and spinal injuries, and her family was informed earlier this week that her condition was fatal, according to her church, EastLake Community Church, which is based in Bothell.

Rachel was a passenger in a 1998 Lexus ES3 sedan driven by her mother when it was one of the vehicles struck in a multiple-vehicle crash on Interstate 90 on Wednesday that started when a semi-truck crashed into the rear axle of a logging truck, causing the logging truck to fishtail, according to the Washington State Patrol.

On its blog, EastLake Community Church encouraged people to help Rachel's family by donating toward her medical expenses here:

Rachel’s Medical Expenses (Band Of Brothers)

The church also asked people to help Rachel's campaign to raise money for Charity Water, which she held for her ninth birthday last month.

Rachel’s Charity Water Campaign

Church teaching and leadership team member Jeremy Johnson said in a video that Rachel asked people to donate to the charity, which helps people find safe sources of drinking water in Africa, instead of giving her presents.

"As she turned 9, she wanted to give her birthday to Charity Water, so she could make a difference around the world and bring water to people who didn’t have any," he said.

He said Rachel was disappointed because she didn’t quite receive the $300 for her ninth birthday goal and was already preparing to get ready to raise money for her tenth birthday next year.

Since the posting, Rachel's page has raised more than $24,000.

The crash remains under investigation.

The tractor trailer, driven by Richard H. Noble, 60, of Concrete, was headed westbound on Interstate 90 in the right-hand lane and came upon stopped traffic just before the Interstate 405 exit, Washington State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Keith Trowbridge said earlier this week.

Noble's tractor trailer struck a logging cab in the next lane, which was driven by Michael M. Mullins, 61, of Randle, and the logging cab's rear axle and rear assembly came off, Trowbridge said. The load of the logging cab started to fishtail and the logs struck multiple vehicles before Mullins regained control and pulled the vehicle to the right shoulder of the freeway, Trowbridge said.

The tractor trailer driven by Noble also struck some cars that were stopped, Trowbridge said. In all, 14 vehicles were involved, according to the state patrol.

Seven people, including Noble and Rachel, her mother, Samantha Paul, and Rachel's two-year-old sister, were taken to area hospitals, according to the Bellevue Fire Department and the State Patrol.

Editor's note: Venice Buhain is editor of Bellevue Patch. Two Sammamish residents also were involved in the crash.