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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – (AP) – A church van filled with children was heading to Walt Disney World after being caught in a pile of fire involving two vehicles at 18 wheels. Seven people, five of them young, died in the accident.
On Friday, investigators attempted to determine what caused the accident, occurred outside Gainesville on a clear day, on a straight flat road of Interstate 75, a freeway connects Florida to the rest of the south.
Two vehicles traveling north, a semitrailer and a car, crashed, then went through a metal guardrail and hit another trailer and the van carrying the children to the south. A leak of diesel fuel has caused a fireball, said the Florida Highway Patrol.
A fifth car, unable to avoid chaos, sped at full speed and struck people thrown out of the van, the road patrol announced. Five of the children of a Pentecostal church in Marksville, Louisiana, and two truck drivers died. At least eight other people were injured, some seriously.
"It's a heartbreaking event," said Lieutenant Patrick Riordan on Friday. He did not identify the church involved, but a member of the Avoyelles House of Mercy told the Gainesville Sun newspaper Friday that his church was stunned. The children were 8 to 14 years old.
"It's amazing. Everyone is in shock. We have lost five of our children, "said Maxine Doughty, a member of the church. "We had our last supper and the pastor said to live as if every day was the last day."
Church representatives did not immediately respond to phone calls.
A pregnant woman among the wounded delivered a baby, according to a message posted on the Facebook page of the United Pentecostal Church Lighthouse Omaha and signed by Kevin V. Cox, Louisiana District Superintendent of the Pentecostal Church .
Cox said the wife of Pastor Eric Descant, 50, Karen was seriously injured and her granddaughter was among the children killed
According to the road patrol, a truck driven by Steve Holland The 59-year-old from West Palm Beach was heading north in the far right lane when his truck turned left. and collided with a car driven by Robyn Rattray, 41, from Gainesville.
The truck and car became uncontrollable and went through the central separation, where Holland's truck entered the church van, driven by Amy Joffiron, 49 years old. He returns several times and eject some of the nine children on board. The road patrol stated that no one was wearing a seatbelt.
The Holland truck then struck a truck driven by Douglas Bolkema, 49, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who was also heading south. The trucks and Rattray's car caught fire and a fifth vehicle struck at least one of the van's ejected passengers.
Rattray and Joffiron were seriously injured, as were the four surviving children aged 9 to 14 years. Karen Descant.
Authorities identified the dead children as Joel Cloud and Jeremiah Warren, both 14 years old; Cara Descant, 13 years old; Briena Descant, 10 years old; and Cierra Bordelan, 9. The relationship between Descant's daughters and the pastor was not immediately available.
Vinnie DeVita said that he was driving south and narrowly escaped the accident. He saw it in the rearview mirror, immediately behind him, according to a report from the WKMG TV channel in Orlando.
"If I had slowed down on hearing the noise, I would have no doubt been involved in this accident" DeVita said. And then about 15 to 20 seconds later, everything exploded. I mean, just a fireball. "
The highway is a busy transportation corridor. Its corridors fill up each day with half-barrels among other vehicles filled with tourists traveling to Orlando, Tampa and South Florida.
The National Transportation Safety Board would normally send a team to assist in the investigation, but can not do so because of the federal government
Riordan said that this would not hinder the efforts of the road patrol, which could take months.
Florida Department of Transportation spokesman Troy Roberts said the agency was investigating that the security fence should have prevented the northbound accident from crossing the border. road. or if the accident was too traumatic.
"The guardrails are there to stop as much as possible, but some things can not," Roberts said.
This was the worst accident on I-75 in Alachua County since January 2012, when 11 people died in a chain accident caused by thick fog and smoke on the road. Officials have been criticized for not closing the road because of the conditions. They then installed cameras, sensors and large electronic signs to help prevent similar collisions.
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