Three scouts, an adult killed when a truck struck a troop in Wisconsin

Three girls were killed and a fourth was in critical condition Saturday after the driver of a van struck members of a troupe of Scouts picking up garbage at the edge of a Wisconsin road, the police said.

An adult woman was also killed in the accident, occurred around 11:41 on County Highway P at Lake Hallie, a village northeast of Eau Claire. The Ford F-150 was heading north when it crossed a traffic lane and entered the ditch where it struck the group, the Sgt of Lake Hallie Police. Daniel Sokup said.

The driver, identified as Colton Treu, 21, of Chippewa Falls, escaped from the scene but then surrendered, the police said. We did not know immediately what charges he might face. No phone number for Treu could be found immediately, and it was not clear when he had a lawyer.

"The Lake Hallie Police Department would like to express our deepest condolences to the families involved," Sokup said in a statement Saturday night, noting that the investigation was continuing.

A family member of one of the uninjured girls told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that the children were Girl Scouts in the fourth grade of Halmstad Elementary School in Chippewa Falls.

They were all wearing bright safety vests and were accompanied by several adults, said the parent.

A cause of the accident was not disclosed by the police.

In a statement posted on Facebook on Saturday night, the Chippewa Falls Police Department described this incident as "a truly horrific incident" and offered its condolences to the victims and their families.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with families, friends, other students, scouts and all others affected by this," said the Chippewa Falls Police Department. "Really, as a community, it affects each of us, something very precious has been lost and nothing can bring it back, we are crying with you."