Seventeen people were injured in four separate traffic accidents Sunday, police said.

The spate of wrecks began at 11:15 a.m. on Route 222 in East Cocalico Township.

Eight people were injured when the van they were riding in sustained a tire blowout and crashed off the side of Route 222 near the East Church Street overpass, according to East Cocalico police Officer Dave Fisher.

Fisher said Reynaldo Rogue-Rivera, 43, of Lancaster, was driving a Ford Aerostar north on Route 222 when the left rear tire blew out.

The van skidded off the road and went into a ditch, where it rolled over.

None of the seven passengers was wearing a seatbelt, according to Fisher.

The officer said Rogue-Rivera, Maria Ponce-Lougat, 50, Sandra Diaz, no age given, Louis Tavares, no age given, Gloria Ramos, no age given, Anthony Santiago, no age given, and Robert Sierra, no age given, all of Lancaster, all were taken to Reading Hospital for treatment of nonlife-threatening injuries.

Yusleydy Aguilera, 20, of Lancaster, was taken to Lancaster General Hospital, according to Fisher.

Neither hospital had information about any of the patients, nursing supervisors said. They said that could mean the patients were treated and released.

Around 5 p.m., two people were injured in a two-car crash on Route 322 in Ephrata Township.Details of the accident were not available as of press time Sunday night.

An Ephrata police officer said one of the cars hit a telephone pole, and two people were taken by ambulance to Lancaster General Hospital.

In West Hempfield Township, two wrecks that left seven people injured occurred seven minutes apart, stretching local emergency-response teams thin for a period.

"It was a bit taxing on our people," West Hempfield police Sgt. Douglas Ober said.

The first accident occurred at 7:03 p.m. on eastbound Route 30, just west of the Prospect Road exit.

Ober said a woman was changing lanes when she lost control of her vehicle and it skidded into the center median, where it flipped onto its roof.

Two adults and a 5-year-old boy were taken to Lancaster General Hospital. Ober declined to release their names Sunday night.

He described their injuries as nonlife-threatening.

At 7:10 p.m., Ober said, four teens under the age of 18 were in a car traveling west on Summit Drive. Ober said the driver lost control on a curve in the 600 block, and the car struck a tree.

After the collision, the car's engine caught fire.

Ober said bystanders pulled the driver and a passenger out of the burning vehicle.

"That probably saved their lives," he said.

The other two passengers most likely got out of the vehicle on their own, Ober said.

All four teens were taken to Lancaster General Hospital, where Ober said the driver was listed in critical condition.

He said the three others suffered moderate injuries.

Ober declined to identify any of the teens.

preilly@lnpnews.com