Hide Transcript Show Transcript

WEBVTT WESH 2’S KELSI THORUD HAS MORE. >> TO HAVE THAT BALL OF FIRE GO UP 5, 6, 7 STORIES TALL, JUST A HORRIFIC SCENE. KELSI: DOZENS OF DRIVERS, LIKE JOE MEURLOTT, WERE DRIVING DOWN THIS STRETCH OF I-75 THURSDAY AFTERNOON WHEN THE CRASH HAPPENED. >> I SAW THAT SEMI TRUCK CROSS THE NORTHBOUND LANES AND CROSSOVER INTO THE SOUTHBOUND LANES. THIS HUGE EXPLOSION HAPPENED. KELSI: MEURLOTT SAYS THE AFTERMATH WAS JUST AS HORRIFIC. >> I COULD SEE PEOPLE IN THE ROAD. SOME PEOPLE LAYING ON THE GROUND LIFELESS AND OTHERS SITTING UP. KELSI: MIKE DAVIS, A FORMER FIREFIGHTER, WAS ALSO ON THE INTERSTATE. >> I SAW THE BODIES LAYING ON THE INTERSTATE, AND THAT’S WHAT PROMPTED ME TO STOP. KELSI: DAVIS SAYS HE JUMPED OUT OF HIS CAR AND RAN TO HELP. >> I CAME ACROSS THE FIRST KID. HE WAS PROBABLY ABOUT 14, MAYBE. A BOY. AND HE WAS -- HE WAS GONE. THERE WERE TWO MORE GIRLS, AND THEY WERE GONE. AND SO I STOPPED AT THE FIRST PERSON I FOUND ALIVE, AND THAT WAS A LITTLE GIRL. SHE WAS MAYBE 11, 12. AND SHE WAS THREE KINDS OF MESSED UP. KELSI: IN TOTAL, FIVE CHILDREN AND TWO ADULTS DIED IN THE CRASH. EIGHT OTHERS WERE SERIOUSLY INJURED, INCLUDING FOUR ADDITIONAL CHILDREN AND A PREGNANT WOMAN. BOTH WITNESSES SAY THE CRASH HAS MADE THEM THINK ABOUT THEIR OWN LOVED ONES. >> MAKE SURE YOU ALWAYS TELL YOUR LOVED ONES HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THEM AND THINK ABOUT THEM A LOT. KELSI: FHP IS ST

Advertisement Truck driver in fiery crash that killed 5 children traveling to Disney World had several tickets Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Five children heading to Disney World in a church van from Louisiana died along with two truck drivers in a fiery crash on Interstate 75 near Gainesville on Thursday, the Florida Highway Patrol said. During a news conference on Friday morning officials with the Florida Highway Patrol 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 north of Gainesville. Troopers said a tractor trailer driven by Steve Holland of West Palm Beach 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. Officials said the church van flipped several times after being struck, ejecting passengers. When the trucks collided they caught fire and the flames were fueled by about 50 gallons of diesel fuel. “Once those semis struck, they both caught fire,” Lt. Patrick Riordan said. Authorities said a fifth vehicle came through and either struck those ejected from the vehicle. In addition to the seven dead, several others were taken to the hospital, some with critical injuries. Officials identified the five children killed in the crash as Joel Cloud and Jeremiah Warren, both 14, Cierra Bordelan, 9, Cara Descant, 13, and 10-year-old Brieana Descant.Holland, 59, and the driver of the other semi, Douglas Bolkema, 49, of Albuquerque were both killed killed. Court records show Holland was ticketed between 2000 and 2014 in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Virginia for violations including speeding, driving an unsafe vehicle, driving an overloaded vehicle and not carrying proof of insurance.A spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol told The Associated Press in a phone interview that their top priorities were to conduct a thorough investigation and to identify the deceased victims.Emergency crews extinguished the fire and said they were treating the crash as a homicide investigation, but didn’t say why. The fire was so intense that authorities said it damaged parts of the road. “There’s going to be families that need to be notified that their loves ones have perished,” said Lieutenant Patrick Riordan. Nicole Towarek was traveling northbound with her family when they came across the scene. She told the Gainesville Sun that black smoke billowed, people were laid out near vehicles, there were long skid marks across the roadway and emergency workers were converging on the area.“We kept seeing these little explosions and fire,” she said. “The heat, it was insane.”The aftermath closed part of the highway in both directions, causing massive delays.The crash was in the northbound lanes, but southbound lanes were closed for hours to keep a route open for first responders, according to a tweet from the Alachua County Sherriff’s office, which said the emergency “required all hands on deck.” Authorities opened the northbound lanes around 8 p.m. on Thursday.Motorists should expect delays on Friday as only one southbound lane is open as of 9 a.m.Debris including personal property and vehicle parts was scattered across the road, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The Associated Press contributed to this report