CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – Two girls were killed and nine people were injured, including two critically, in a three-vehicle crash Saturday morning in Clay County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
It happened about 6 a.m. on U.S. 301 at County Road 218.
The Highway Patrol said a sport utility vehicle, a van and a concrete pump truck were traveling north on U.S. 301 in the right lane, and as the SUV and the van accelerated from the traffic signal at the intersection of C.R. 218, the truck collided with the rear of the van, pushing the van into the back of the SUV.
A 13-year-old girl and a 10-year-old girl in the van were killed, troopers said.
According to FHP, a 16-year-old girl and a 41-year-old woman in the van were critically injured. A 15-year-old boy who was also a passenger of the van and a 43-year-old man who was driving the van were seriously injured, troopers said.
An FHP news release shows all six of the van occupants are from Ontario, Canada.
“I can’t imagine the heartbreak of that family. My heart goes out to them,” a man, who wished to remain unnamed, told News4JAX by phone.
The man drove by the site nearly two hours after the crash before having to find a different route.
“All I can think was something really bad must’ve happened here,” he said.
According to troopers, the SUV driver, a 72-year-old Gainesville man, and the four SUV passengers -- a 3-year-old girl, a 12-year-old boy, a 35-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man, all of whom are from Fort Collins, Colorado -- suffered minor injuries.
The truck driver, a 48-year-old Gainesville man, was not injured. The FHP news release shows it’s unknown whether he was wearing a seat belt.