Fort Lauderdale, FL – The Florida Highway Patrol says five children from Louisiana and two tractor-trailer truck drivers died in a fiery crash on a Florida interstate.
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During a news conference on Friday morning, Lt. Patrick Riordan said the church passenger van carrying the children was from the Avoyelles Parish in Louisiana. The crash happened at 3:40 p.m. Thursday just south of Gainesville in north Florida.
Riordan says a tractor trailer and a passenger vehicle traveling north, collided and went through the guardrail into the southbound lanes. They struck the passenger van and another tractor trailer. He says when the trucks collided they caught fire.
Riordan says next of kin notifications are still underway.
The northbound lanes of the interstate reopened on Friday and one southbound lane is now open.
A traffic homicide investigation continues into what caused the crash.