TRUCK SLAMS INTO CYCLISTS: Five bicyclists killed in Michigan hit-run; the riders belonged to a weekly riding club

 A pickup truck sought by cops for reckless driving plowed into a group of bicyclists along a western Michigan road, seriously wounding four and killing at least five people, authorities said.

A flurry of 911 calls made before the deadly collision alerted police to a blue truck driving dangerously throughout northern Kalamazoo County Tuesday evening.

The calls began at 6:08 p.m. and repeated at 6:13 p.m., and 6:21 p.m. The final call at 6:36 p.m. told police of a pickup truck that slammed into nine bicyclists on a rural road three miles north of Kalamazoo

Police were “looking for the blue pickup truck at the time it struck and killed five people, injured four others,” Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said at a media briefing.

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A witness nearly hit by the driver said he saw the driver hit the bicyclists.

“I stepped back, blacked out for a second, turned around and before I could say ‘watch out’ to the bikers, it happened,” the witness told WOOD-TV.

Cops apprehended the 50-year-old male fleeing his disabled truck — smashed up from striking the bicyclists — on foot north of Cooper Township.

Getting would not identify the suspect, but said he is in police custody and charges are pending a police collision reconstruction.

“Until then, the police have their hands full,” Getting said.

He also disputed initial reports that children were among the bicyclists struck.

The deaths left members of a local bike club reeling with grief.

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“This is beyond tragic,” said Kalamazoo Bicycle Club Director of Road Safety Paul Selden.

He believes the bicyclists may have been part of a group riding toward Plainwell on Tuesday evening.
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