Mom, baby girl die after crash with a bus in Long Island: police

YAPHANK, N.Y. (PIX11) -- A mother and her 1-year-old daughter died in a crash involving a minibus on Long Island Thursday morning, police said.

The crash happened near the Long Island Expressway in Yaphank around 7:35 a.m. when the bus driver tried to make a left turn from County Road 101 onto Express Drive South and was struck by a Nissan Sentra, police officials said.

Jacklyn Smoljan, the 31-year-old woman driving the Nissan, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to officials. Her 1-year-old daughter, Joelaya Smoljan-Davenport, was rushed to Long Island Community Hospital in Patchogue and later transferred to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said.

Two passengers on the minibus were transported to local hospitals for treatment of what authorities called non-life-threatening injuries. Both vehicles were impounded for a safety check.

Detectives are asking anyone with information on the crash to call the Sixth Squad at 631-854-8652.