3 dead after pickup, school van crash in Nebraska

Updated June 2, 2012, 1:38 AM ET

(AP) ANSLEY, Neb. - Nebraska authorities say a pickup truck crashed into a van carrying high school basketball players on Friday, killing two of their coaches and another man.

The accident happened along Highway 2 in rural central Nebraska just west of Ansley, a small town about 160 miles west of Lincoln.

The State Patrol said the van's driver, 38-year-old Zane Harvey, and his front-seat passenger, 24-year-old Anthony Blum, were killed. The truck's driver, 70-year-old Albert Sherbeck, also died.

The patrol says Harvey and Blum, both coaches at Broken Bow High School, were driving students home from a basketball clinic in Kearney when an eastbound truck crossed the centerline and hit their westbound van head-on.

Eight boys were taken to hospitals, including two who were treated and released, according to the patrol.

The conditions of the other six boys haven't been released, though a message on the school's website said they were seriously injured. A ninth student who was originally believed to be in the van had ridden home with a relative.

A vigil is scheduled Saturday morning at the school.