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“It is a heartbreaking event,” Lt. Patrick Riordan said Friday. He did not identify the church involved, but a member of the Avoyelles House of Mercy told the Gainesville Sun on Friday that her church was stunned. The children ranged in age from 9 to 14.

“It’s unbelievable. Everybody is in shock. We lost five of our children,” church member Maxine Doughty said. “We had our Last Supper Sunday, and the pastor said to live our lives like each day is the last day.”

Church officials did not immediately respond to phone calls.

In a statement posted on the United Pentecostal Church International’s Facebook page, Louisiana district superintendent Kevin Cox said a pregnant woman injured in the crash and her unborn child had been stabilized. Cox also said church pastor Eric Descant’s 50-year-old wife, Karen, was critically injured and his granddaughter was among the children killed.

The highway patrol says a truck driven by Steve Holland, 59, of West Palm Beach, was travelling north in the far-right lane when his truck suddenly veered left and collided with a car driven by Robyn Rattray, 41, of Gainesville.

Both the truck and car went out of control and through the centre divider, where Holland’s truck plowed into the church van, driven by Amy Joffiron, 49, causing it to flip several times and eject some of the nine children on board. The highway patrol said it is unknown if any were wearing seatbelts.

Holland’s truck then struck a truck driven by Douglas Bolkema, 49, of Albuquerque, N.M., who was also travelling south. Both trucks and Rattray’s car caught fire, and a fifth vehicle hit at least one of the ejected van passengers.