Van goes into closed Overland Park swimming pool

An accident this morning knocked a van into a closed Overland Park swimming pool.

Two vans were apparently going south on Antioch Road when one rear-ended the other and knocked it through a chain-link fence and into the Stonegate swimming pool, said police spokesman Matthew Bregel.

The van came to rest in the deep end, which was only about four-feet deep because the pool was being drained. The water was about window level, he said, and the man driving got out with minor injuries, if any.

Both he and the woman driving the other van were taken to a hospital as a precaution, he said.

The city had closed the pool Tuesday because of a cryptosporidium outbreak. The waterborne parasite has made several people sick and pools throughout Johnson County have closed early. Johnson County officials were going to leave the Stonegate pool and one other open through Labor Day but decided to close them this week.

The driver of the doused van must have gotten wet, police said, which means possible exposure to the parasite.

Sean Reilly, spokesman for the city, said they had to stop draining the pool for now because motor vehicle fluids in the water made it a hazardous waste situation. The pool will be repaired and be ready to open next year, he said.

The Kansas City Star

www.kansascity.com

Thursday, August 1, 2011 1:16 p.m.