Community Chat

[KingstonsMom]

Any prayers, healing thoughts, etc. would be greatly appreciated I'm sure.

"At least seven people have been killed and eight more injured after a huge fuel spill on Interstate 75 in Florida sparked a massive fireball following a crash between four vehicles.

Two big rigs and two passenger vehicles collided spilling 50 gallons of diesel across the Florida highway, sparking the blaze that killed seven.

Some of those caught up in the crash are thought to be a group of children who were heading to Disney World.

Horrifying footage from the scene showed the huge fire engulfing several motors and it was so intense the flames damaged parts of the road around a mile south of Alachua, near Gainesville.

Eight other people were taken to the hospital, some with critical injuries, according to reports.

Emergency crews extinguished the fire and said they were treating the crash as a homicide investigation.

Two tractor trailers, a van and a midsize sedan were involved in the mid afternoon crash.

Alachua County Sheriff's spokesman Art Forgey said they were working to verify dispatch records which indicated one vehicle carried a group of children who were heading to Disney World.

Others had been traveling with the same group but were not involved in the accident, according to reports.

The Gainsville Sun reports five of those who died were in a passenger van and one was in one of the crashed tractor-trailers. It is not known of they were the driver or a passenger.

Authorities said debris, including personal property and vehicle parts, were left scattered across the road.

Spokesman Lieutenant Patrick Riordan, said: 'There's going to be families that need to be notified that their loves ones have perished.'

He said it is unclear whether the victims were killed in the wreck or whether they burned in the fire, which would make identification more difficult.

Lieutenant P.V. Riordan told NBC News: 'There was significant damage with the two tractor trailers and with that much abrasion, I'm not surprised that we had a fire.

'I think we've got a long night ahead of us. We've got a lot of debris, we've got a lot of damage to the road. We've got a lot of work ahead of us with regard to the investigation."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6555937/6-killed-fiery-crash-fuel-spill-Florida-highway.htm...

[KingstonsMom]

Count your blessings.

[BirkiLady]

Everyone is in my prayers . . . including their families and the entire communities. It's amazing how many are affected when an accident occurs. 

[Lilysmom]

@KingstonsMom@BirkiLady, how does one even process something like this?  RIP.  LM

[Tinkrbl44]

It says the crews are treating this as a homicide investigation .... clearly, there's more to this than just a terrible accident.

[phoenixbrd]

horrific...saw on the news.  Reminds me to continue to live each day as if it was my last. My thoughts and prayers for the families receiving this news.

[fthunt]

Some bad choices involved - it was dark - night time - a van with too many occupants - that's a lot of weight - and who knows how experienced the driver of the van was.  See this type of accident many times.

[seaBreeze]

Those innocent children ... a nightmare best describes it.

Tractor trailers vs passenger cars/vans need to have their own "interstate highways."   This happens too often, too much aggression (or bad driving) see it almost everyday in my area. 

[viva923]

saw cell phone cameras taking movies of this horrific crash. 5 of the victims were kids . family from Louisiana is known victims of the crash now.

[KingstonsMom]

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@fthunt wrote:

Some bad choices involved - it was dark - night time - a van with too many occupants - that's a lot of weight - and who knows how experienced the driver of the van was.  See this type of accident many times.

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@fthunt

I think it's too early in the investigation to put the blame on the van/driver.

Semi-truck driver caused accidents happen frequently too, being too tired to drive, couldn't stop in time, etc.

I'll reserve judgement until more facts are in, especially re: the "murder" charge vs. 'vehicular homicide'......... road rage on someone's part maybe? Just a thought.