Crash kills girl, brother

(Correction: Because of an editing error, the surname of Andrea and Joshua Goncalves, who were killed Sunday in a car crash in Hopkinton, was misspelled in a Page One story in yesterday's late edition.)

A 17-year-old Hopkinton girl and her 10-year-old brother were killed yesterday when the Saab she was driving skidded sideways and went off the road, striking a tree, Hopkinton police and school officials said.

After receiving a cellular 911 call for a single-car crash, police officers and firefighters found Andrea Goncalves and her brother, Joshua, and their demolished 2001 Saab.

The accident happened about 5 p.m. on Frankland Road, a narrow, undivided country lane, in an area bordered by thick woods and a tree nursery, police said. The force of the crash dug up a large swath of earth by the roadside and knocked over a fire hydrant.

The tragedy occurred as some lawmakers are talking about raising the minimum driving age in the state to 17 1/2 from the current 16 1/2.

The talk is in response to several recent accidents involving teenagers, including a crash on Route 128 in Wakefield just over a week ago that killed two 16-year-old high school students.

Police said speed may have been a factor in yesterday's crash that took two more young lives.

Andrea Goncalves was a student at Hopkinton High School, police and school officials said. Principal Dee Gould said that faculty and staff would meet at 5:30 a.m. today to plan a schoolwide response.

Gould said the school has five counselors on staff and would bring in more from neighboring towns to serve the needs of the more than 900 students who attend the school.

Joshua Goncalves was in fourth grade at Hopkins School, which serves fourth- and fifth-graders. The principal, Martha Starr, said by telephone last night that she was informed of the accident about 5:30 p.m. and planned to meet with staff before school today to decide what to say to the students and public. ''It's devastating for all of us," she said, through tears. ''He was a sweet and lovely little boy."

After emergency crews got the brother and sister out of the wreck, Andrea Goncalves was rushed by helicopter to the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, where she was later pronounced dead. Joshua Goncalves was dead at the scene, police said.

Hopkinton police said that both the driver and her brother were wearing seat belts. There was no evidence that any other cars were involved in the accident, they said. A State Police accident reconstruction team was assisting with the probe.

Gary Witherspoon of the Globe staff and Globe correspondents Charlie Russo, Sean M. Greene, and Hailey Heinz contributed to this report.