SLIDELL - A student driver and her instructor were critically injured after being struck head-on by a suspected impaired driver Thursday evening. 

The 17-year-old student driver and the instructor were traveling east on Brownswitch Road Thursday evening when the crash happened. The student driver was merging onto a roundabout when a vehicle driven by 34-year-old Jarrod Sciacca hit them head-on.

According to the Slidell Police Department, Sciacca was traveling in the opposite lane around 50 to 60 miles per hour when he collided with the other vehicle. Sciacca’s Jeep flipped onto its side and also struck a 2018 Toyota Highlander on the roundabout.

The student driver's vehicle reportedly caught fire after coming to a stop, and several good Samaritans rushed to help pull the the victims out of the burning wreckage.

Both the teen and her instructor were rushed to University Medical Center in New Orleans, where they're being treated for multiple broken bones, fractures, and head injuries. The driver of the truck hit by Sciacca suffered minor injuries.

 Sciacca was uninjured in the crash.

Investigators suspect Sciacca was impaired at the time, and he was arrested on charges of first-degree negligent injury, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, driving while intoxicated, and driving with a suspended license.