A 15-year-old who police said did not have a driver's license was behind the wheel of a van that crashed head-on with a car Monday night, leaving 10 people - including several children - injured.

The teen had seven other children in the van with him at the time of the crash in northeast Charlotte, police said. All eight occupants, as well as two people in a Volkswagen Beetle that was struck by the van, were injured. Two people suffered serious injuries, authorities said.

The wreck happened after 9 p.m. Monday on Old Concord Road. Police said the 15-year-old crossed a double yellow line to avoid hitting a vehicle in front of him. He pulled into the path of oncoming traffic and collided with the Volkswagen, police said.

Woodrow Munnerlyn of Charlotte told the Observer he was driving along Old Concord Road on Monday night when he noticed that the vehicle that had been behind him had suddenly moved across the double yellow line and was beside him on his left. That's when the vehicle collided head-on with a car traveling in the opposite direction, he said.

Munnerlyn said he stopped and rushed to help. When he approached, he saw a boy he guessed was about 8 or 9 years old. He was in obvious pain as he dragged his body with his arms across the ground outside the SUV, Munnerlyn recalled.

"When I went to him, he was yelling, "'It hurts, I want my mom,'" Munnerlyn said.

Munnerlyn called 911, and as he tried to calm the boy down, he realized more children were inside the SUV, he said. He tried opening one door, but it was jammed. Inside, he saw children shaking and crying.

One girl, who had apparently been sitting on the front passenger side, was "bloody from head to toe" and shaking so badly it looked like she was having a seizure, Munnerlyn said. He sat with her until an ambulance arrived.

Others stopped to help, tending to the hurt children, as well as the people in the other vehicle, Munnerlyn said.

Once paramedics and police arrived, Munnerlyn said he surveyed the damage to the two vehicles involved in the collision.

"Both the front ends were completely gone," he said.

He said he didn't learn until the next day that the driver was only 15.

The teen driver of the van was charged with driving without a license, according to investigators. The teen's name has not been released because he is a juvenile.

An update on the injured people's conditions was not available Wednesday.

It's unclear whether the teen driver had a learner permit.

State law allows teens as young as 15 to obtain a limited learner permit after completing a driver education course and passing written, sign and vision tests. An adult, licensed driver is required to accompany someone driving with a learner permit.

After a year with a learner permit, teens at least age 16 are eligible for a limited provisional license, which allows them to drive unsupervised from 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. When driving unsupervised, teens with such a license are prohibited from having more than one passenger under 21 years of age in the vehicle, according to law.

Staff writer Steve Lyttle and staff researcher Maria David contributed.