STARKE, Fla. – Three people were injured, including a teenager, after a box truck overturned Friday morning in Starke and then a semitruck struck the vehicle, authorities said.
It happened just before 5:30 a.m. on State Road 223 -- near the U.S. 301 bypass and State Road 100.
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According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a small sedan veered over into the right lane that a box truck was traveling south in, and that’s when the box truck went off the roadway and then back onto the road, where it overturned.
Troopers said there was a secondary crash as a result. They said the driver of a semitractor-trailer didn’t realize the box truck was overturned and collided with it.
Bradford County Fire Rescue Chief Dylan Rodgers said three people were injured, including a 13-year-old girl who was taken out of the box truck and transported to a hospital. Rodgers said she had non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to be OK, however, an FHP news release listed the Middleburg teen’s injuries as serious.
Troopers said the other two people hurt were the driver of the box truck, a 32-year-old Jacksonville man, and the semi driver, a 61-year-old Orlando man, both of whom suffered minor injuries. According to Rodgers, both of the adults were looked at while at the scene.
As a result of the crash, according to Rodgers, 50 gallons of diesel leaked from the semi, affecting the highway, so the southbound lanes of S.R. 223 were closed and traffic was rerouted onto S.R. 100. Due to the leak, the Environmental Protection Agency was called.