Authorities have identified the seven victims killed in a multi-vehicle crash on a Florida interstate that sparked a massive fire on the roadway.
The Florida Highway Patrol said five children traveling in a van headed to Disney World were among those killed in the crash late Thursday afternoon. The drivers of the two semi-trucks involved in the crash were also killed.
According to the FHP, a semi-truck hauling a box van was traveling northbound on I-75 near Gainesville in the right lane when it traveled toward the left for an unknown reason and crashed into a passenger car.
Both vehicles traveled towards the center median and went through the guardrail into the southbound lanes, the FHP said. The semi then struck the driver side of a passenger van going southbound, causing the van to overturn multiple times and ejecting passengers from inside the van.
The semi then struck a tractor-trailer, the FHP said. Both trucks and the passenger car caught on fire and 50 gallons of diesel fuel spilled as a result of the crash.
A fifth vehicle struck at least one occupant of the passenger van who was ejected in the crash.
According to the FHP, there were 12 people traveling in the passenger van. The children in the van who were killed were identified as Briena Descant, 10, Cara Descant, 13, Cierra Bordelan, 9, Jeremiah Warren, 14 and Joel Cloud, 7. All five children were from Marksville, Louisiana. The children were from Avoyelles House of Mercy church in Marksville. According to The Gainesville Sun, Briena and Cara Descant were the church pastor’s grandchildren.
“This is the worst thing that has ever happened to us,” a church volunteer told avoyellestoday. “We have lost half of our children”.
The driver of the semi going northbound was identified as Steve Holland, 59, of West Palm Beach. The driver of the semi going southbound was identified as Douglas Bolkema, 49, of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The driver of the passenger car and the other occupants of the van suffered serious inuries. At least one van passenger was listed as being in critical condition.
Vinnie DeVita said he was driving south and narrowly escaped the crash. He saw it in the rearview mirror, immediately behind him, according to a report by Orlando television station WKMG .
“If I had stepped on the brake when I heard the noise, undoubtedly, I would have been in that accident,” DeVita said. “And then within probably 15 to 20 seconds of it all, it exploded. I mean, just a ball of flames.”
The highway is a busy transportation corridor. Its lanes fill daily with semis that barrel among other vehicles filled with tourists heading to and from Orlando, Tampa and South Florida.
The National Transportation Safety Board would normally send a team to help with the investigation, but cannot because of the federal government shutdown. Lt. Patrick Riordan, of the Florida Highway Patrol, said that will not impede the highway patrol’s efforts, which could take months.
Florida Department of Transportation spokesman Troy Roberts said the agency is investigating whether the guardrail should have stopped the northbound crash from crossing the highway or whether the crash was too severe.
The crash remains under investigation.
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Reporting and writing from The Associated Press was used in this story.
Photo: Police survey the scene after a wreck with multiple fatalities on Interstate 75, south of Alachua, near Gainesville, Fa., Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019. Two big rigs and two passenger vehicles collided and spilled diesel fuel across the Florida highway Thursday, sparking a massive fire that killed several people, authorities said. (Photo by Lauren Bacho/The Gainesville Sun via Associated Press)