NATCHEZ — Five teens were hospitalized — two with serious injuries — after an early New Year’s morning accident at the corner of Canal and Madison streets.

Officers responded to the call at 1:58 a.m.

The 2002 4-wheel drive, 4-door GMC pickup driven by Dylan Pressgrove, 17, 555 U.S. 61 North, apparently topped the old railroad bed on North Canal Street in a way that caused the driver to lose control, Police Chief Mike Mullins said.

The truck slammed into a tree at 209 Madison St., injuring the driver and the four other passengers in the vehicle. One of the passengers reportedly told an officer on the scene none of them were wearing seat belts, Mullins said.

The other passengers included Deacon Newman, 18, 205 Margaret Ave., Cody Strickland, 17, 320 Highland Blvd., Jennifer Scudiero, 18, 508 N. Pearl St., and Charles M. Fos, 18, 104 Brookfield Drive. Fos goes by the name Matthew Rymer, Mullins said.

The Jaws of Life had to be used to extract Fos and Pressgrove.

All five were initially treated in Natchez hospitals, and Pressgrove and Scuderio were transferred to University Medical Center in Jackson, and Fos was transferred to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge.

Pressgrove is currently listed as in critical condition at UMC, and an operator at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital said Fos was in a critical care unit. Family members could not be reached.

Scuderio was in stable condition Friday evening, and her father, Tony Scudiero, said she was being kept overnight for observation and was waiting to meet with a specialist because she had possibly broken her collarbone.

She also had to receive between 20-30 stitches along the bridge of her nose and eyebrows, Tony Scudiero said.

“This is a the call you don’t want to get as a parent, and we are lucky she will be able to walk home tomorrow,” he said. “Our hearts go out to the other families in this.”

Strickland and Newman were treated in Natchez and released.

The tree the vehicle struck was in Elodie Pritchartt’s yard, and she said when she heard the crash she ran outside.

She ran to the driver’s side of the vehicle but couldn’t see in the window and wasn’t able to open the door, so she went to the passenger side of the vehicle.

“I opened the door and saw a bunch of unconscious teenagers, and so I shut the door because I know you are not supposed to move anyone injured, and I didn’t want them to fall out and hurt themselves further,” she said.

Tommy Polk was on the scene immediately after Pritchartt, and he said three of the victims emerged from the vehicle one at a time, dazed and injured.

He and Pritchartt got the victims chairs to sit in while they waited for emergency personnel to arrive.

“It was a surreal scene, with it being cold, rain falling down, Mardi Gras beads on everyone and the lights from the police and ambulances flashing,” he said. “It’s a very sad and tragic thing.”

While the accident was unexpected, Pritchartt said it’s not the first time she’s seen something like it.

“This is the third time this year I have seen someone hit that (railroad) hump and lose control,” she said. “The city really needs to level it.”

The accident remains under investigation, and Mullins said a sample of Pressgrove’s blood has been sent to the state crime lab in Jackson for testing.