Five Louisiana children from the Marskville area on their way to Disney World are among the seven dead in a fiery crash on Interstate 75 in north Florida on Thursday. Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Patrick Riordan says the five vehicle wreck started when a big rig and passenger car heading north collided.
“And then subsequently went through the guardrail traveling into the southbound lanes, at some point those vehicles struck a passenger van and the other semi-truck,” said Riordan.
Witnesses say when the two semi-trucks collided an explosion occurred. Riordan says the drivers of the two big rigs were killed and six to eight others are injured. He says the passenger van from the Avoyelles House of Mercy was heading south.
The United Pentecostal Church has released a statement that says 12 people were in the van, including Sister Karen Descant, the pastor’s wife. Two other adults were also in the van, they all survived, including a pregnant woman who gave birth after the wreck. The four children injured are expected to recover.
Riordan says the Florida Highway Patrol will conduct an extensive investigation that will include homicide detectives.
“So at some point and it sounds early on, they can start having some closure as quickly as we can do what we are going to do to let them understand what transpired,” said Riordan.
