GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Seven people, including five children, were killed in a crash involving a van transporting members of a Louisiana church through Florida Thursday.
The crash was reported Thursday afternoon on Interstate 75 southbound near Gainesville. The Florida Highway Patrol said two tractor-trailers, a passenger van, and a mid-sized sedan were involved in the crash.
In a news conference Friday morning, the Florida Highway Patrol said that five children from Avoyelles Parish were among the seven killed in the crash, ABC reports. Two men driving two semi trucks involved in the crash also died.
Officials in Florida said a tractor-trailer and a passenger vehicle collided while traveling on I-75. The vehicles then crashed through a guardrail and into the southbound lanes hitting the church van and another tractor-trailer.
The Avoyelles House of Mercy in Marksville confirmed that members of their church were involved in the crash. The church’s pastor later released a statement online saying one of the people who survived the crash was a pregnant woman. The pastor said she was “pretty banged up,” but the baby is expected to be OK.
A traffic homicide investigation is ongoing.
Reports say the group was in Florida for a Disney trip.
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