Investigators trying to determine what triggered an accident that left seven dead Thursday on Interstate 75 near Gainesville will have to do so, at least for now, without the help of the National Transportation Safety Board. Among the dead are five children who were traveling in a church van and headed to Walt Disney World. The van was about an hour north of the theme park when a tractor-trailer heading in the opposite direction on Interstate 75 collided with a car and both burst through the center divider. The van and another truck collided with the semi and the car and burst into flames.The NTSB would normally send a team to help with the investigation, but cannot do so because of the federal government shutdown, the Associated Press reports. A Dec. 26 tweet from the agency said its Twitter account was not being monitored due to the shutdown. President Donald Trump said Friday that he told congressional leaders the partial government shutdown could go on for months or years, but he said he didn't think it would. The government is in its 14th day of a partial government shutdown over Trump's insistence for funding of his proposed wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.The Associated Press contributed to this report

Investigators trying to determine what triggered an accident that left seven dead Thursday on Interstate 75 near Gainesville will have to do so, at least for now, without the help of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Among the dead are five children who were traveling in a church van and headed to Walt Disney World.

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The van was about an hour north of the theme park when a tractor-trailer heading in the opposite direction on Interstate 75 collided with a car and both burst through the center divider. The van and another truck collided with the semi and the car and burst into flames.

The NTSB would normally send a team to help with the investigation, but cannot do so because of the federal government shutdown, the Associated Press reports.

A Dec. 26 tweet from the agency said its Twitter account was not being monitored due to the shutdown.

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Due to the lapse in appropriations & government shutdown, this Twitter account is not being actively used/monitored. Accidents still can be reported to the NTSB Response Operations Center at 202-314-6290. Visit https://t.co/tmcAcl463k for info on available government services. — NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) December 26, 2018

President Donald Trump said Friday that he told congressional leaders the partial government shutdown could go on for months or years, but he said he didn't think it would. The government is in its 14th day of a partial government shutdown over Trump's insistence for funding of his proposed wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Associated Press contributed to this report



