ACADEMY COUNTS ITS BLESSINGS PARENTS, STAFF GLAD INJURIES WEREN'T FATAL.

Byline: Mariel Garza Staff Writer

EAGLE ROCK - A day after a grandmother lost control of her car and it plowed into a crowd of children, hundreds of grateful parents, teachers and students prayed Thursday for those hurt and gave thanks that the injuries weren't more serious.

``Many came close to death yesterday,'' Westminster Academy Principal David Thibault told the crowd at Eagle Rock Baptist Church, which is affiliated with the private Christian school. ``By God's grace, that did not occur.''

Eighteen people were injured about 3 p.m. Wednesday when a 65-year-old Glendale woman lost control of her 1973 Mercedes-Benz while driving in the horseshoe-shape car-pool lane on the school grounds. The sedan accelerated into a crowd of students who were waiting for rides, trapping several children beneath it.

While most of the casualties involved only moderate to minor injuries, six victims remained hospitalized Thursday, including two boys, ages 6 and 9, who were airlifted to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles in critical condition. They were upgraded Thursday to fair condition.

Four other children remained at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, officials said. A 9-year-old boy was listed in serious condition with head and chest injuries; a 6-year-old girl was in serious condition with internal injuries; a 10-year-old boy who suffered a broken leg was in fair condition; and an 8-year-old boy was under observation.

Ivan Palomino, 6, was hurt in the crash, but felt well enough to attend the prayer service.

``He was one of the lucky ones,'' the boy's mother, Christina Palomino, said tearfully. ``He's OK. He's having a little trouble walking. I guess his leg is hurt.''

Police identified the driver Thursday as Kae Hak In, 65, the name on her driver's license. She had been identified Wednesday as Kae Hak Lee, the name on her car registration.

Officials said she had not been cited.

``If it's nothing more than she made a mistake then you don't get arrested for mistakes,'' Los Angeles police Sgt. John Pasquariello said. ``If something we find is wrong, we'll proceed from there.''

Many at the prayer service expressed sympathy for In.

``It was nobody's fault,'' said Elisa Velasquez, whose daughter, Mikela, 9, witnessed the crash. ``It was just an accident.''

The heroes of the hour were nine basketball players from Arcadia Christian School, who were on campus for a game and who helped lift the car off several injured children.

Thibault introduced the team during the service, and the crowd gave the boys a standing ovation.

Arcadia Christian's Daniel Kuchenski, 13, downplayed his role, attributing the strength he and his team found in those critical moments to a higher power.

``It was was really God helping us to get through,'' he said.

The school will be closed again today, but teachers said they will rely on prayer to help them comfort traumatized students when classes resume Monday.

Kindergarten teacher Karen Jensen described her plans to help pupils cope with the aftermath: ``Talk about it, talk about it a lot ... draw pictures about it.''

Meanwhile, Thibault said he will review the school's pickup and drop-off procedures.

``We'll look at it,'' he said, adding that there was little that could have been done to prevent the accident. ``The children were where they were supposed to be, the teachers were where they were supposed to be.''

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2 photos

Photo:

(1) Students from Westminster Christian School sing a hymn during a prayer service for victims of Wednesday's incident.

(2) Corinne Shook, left, hugs friends for support before a prayer service for schoolchildren hurt when a woman lost control of her car.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer