Deadly Crash Kills Five Children Headed To Disney World

Two semi trucks and series of passenger vehicles were involved in a crash that killed seven people in Northern Florida on Thursday. Five of the fatalities were children from Louisiana headed to Walt Disney World.

According to Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Patrick Riordan, as many as eight people were injured in the accident and taken to local hospitals. He called the crash an “extensive” and “fiery wreck,” reports WUFT.

The accident occurred at 3:40 p.m. EST when a semi truck and a car traveling north on Interstate 75 collided. The vehicles crashed through the center guardrail and hit a southbound semi truck and a church van with children inside. The two trucks burst into flames, and another car crashed into the wreckage on the roadway.

The children involved in the crash were from Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, according to Riordan.

Kevin Cox from Louisiana’s district of the United Pentecostal Church International said in a Facebook post that the van held members of its congregation including nine children and three adult women.

One child that died in the crash was the granddaughter of the congregation’s pastor, Eric Decant. His wife was also seriously injured during the accident. The four children that survived the crash all sustained injuries but are expected to recover, Cox said in the post.

The drivers of the two tractor trailers were adult males and were both killed in the crash.

The authorities in the case do not know what caused the crash and have opened an investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified of the accident but will not be able to start an investigation until the government reopens, WUFT reported.