MercyMe Accident Leaves 3 Dead (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Dallas Christian pop band MercyMe performed last night at Parkview Field in Fort Wayne, Indiana and was headed to their next venue when their bus collided with a car. The 1:15 a.m. crash early Saturday morning left two dead at the scene of the accident and a third fatality at a nearby hospital.

Kara Klinker, 18-years-old and 35 weeks pregnant with a child, was the driver of a car traveling southbound when she made a left turn in front of the bus. The bus had a green light and was traveling through an intersection when the vehicle struck them. A man and woman in the car were dead at the scene. According to Fort Wayne police offier Liza Thomas, Klinger is in ICU in critical condition – her unborn child was delivered stillborn at the hospital.

The tour bus was headed for St. Louis, Missouri where MercyMe had been scheduled to perform tonight in the Old Glory Ampitheatre at Six Flags. They are best known for their breakthrough hit I Can Only Imagine in 2001 that earned them three Dove Awards.

Members of MercyMe have sent out prayer requests on Twitter to their fans. Bart Millard ‘tweeted’, “Car just hit our tour bus. We are ok, but 2 of the 3 in the car did not make it. The one that did is pregnant. Please start praying.” That message was followed by another, “Can’t sleep. Officers left to notify families of their loss. My heart aches. Girl driving was 35 wks pregnant.”

MercyMe bandman Robby Shaffer left the following ‘tweet’ recently, “Still in Ft. Wayne. Trying to get trailer & bus drivable. Sorry STL peeps. The show tonight has been rescheduled for Sept 5.”

The group uploaded a crash photo of their tour bus onto their website – see below.

View video report on the crash and another of MercyMe performing I Can Only Imagine at Dove Awards below.

Accident coverage

I Can Only Imagine video performance

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