Eight people were taken to area hospitals late Sunday afternoon because of a high-speed accident on North Annie Glidden Road.

A black BMW going northbound lost control and hit a beige Ford Windstar traveling southbound on North Annie Glidden Road, about eight miles north of Hillcrest Drive, said Lt. Van Bomar of the DeKalb Sheriff’s office.

The BMW carried a child in a car seat, a male and a female. The Windstar was also nearly full, with five people and at least one of them was a child.

Three of the victims were transported to Rockford hospitals by helicopter, Bomar said. The other five were taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital.

One helicopter flew to St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital and another went to Rockford Memorial Hospital, said Kirkland Fire Chief Mike Stott.

Bomar said the second helicopter carried a woman and a child.

The crash brought the Ford Windstar to a halt about five feet from the pavement, straddling the roadside ditch. About 30 feet away, stretched across the pavement, sat the battered BMW.

The passenger’s side of the BMW was smashed in along the length of the car and the van’s driver’s side was equally damaged.

“It’s a really bad place to have an accident because of the hill,” Bomar said. About 300 feet north of the scene, from the direction the van was traveling, a blind hill crested.

A third car, a Ford Taurus, swerved out of the way to avoid a collision.

Help came from Genoa-Kingston, Kirkland, Sycamore and DeKalb fire and police units.