Train crash into family's SUV kills six as authorities release names of victims
Six people, including three children, have died after a train crashed into a car crossing rail tracks in Florida.
Those in the SUV were on their way to a quinceañera before they clashed with the train on Saturday evening in Hillsborough County at around 6.45pm Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has confirmed there were four males and three females.
“As you can imagine, the carnage that’s created when these two collide,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said, WFLA reports. “The SUV, we can see from the video begins to catapult and flip violently several times before it’s landed."
He continued: "This SUV that looks like a soft drink can that's been smashed, it's that horrible to see,” adding that five passengers were “violently ejected from the SUV” and found dead at the scene.
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The Cadillac Escalade was carrying a family and a family friend (NBC)Three of the group were children and are now dead, along with three adults. A witness parked by the tracks beeped their horn in an attempt to alert the group. The victims, who were all rear passengers, were identified as Julian Hernandez, 9, Jakub Lopez, 17, Alyssa Hernandez, 17, Anaelia Hernandez, 22, and Enedelia Hernandez, 50.
First responders were able to remove two males, the driver and front passenger, from the car. They were taken to a local hospital where the driver, Jose Hernandez, 52, passed away overnight. The front passenger remains in critical condition. The exact relationship between all seven passengers is not known at this time.
Chronister added: "The word devastating doesn’t even begin to describe the tragedy that unfolded here. Hillsborough County lost a family today, and our hearts are shattered.” The victims are all believed to be local Plant City residents.
This news comes after a passenger train slammed into a car hauler trailer, stuck on railroad tracks in Florida earlier this year. In April Alexander Quintero saw a truck driver attempting to cross the tracks. Quintero told Yahoo life: “He tried to continue going forward and I noticed his wheels started to spin and he was not moving at all. I realized that he was stuck on the railroad. I looked in my mirror and I noticed the light of the train coming behind me, that is when I thought something was about to happen.”
He added: ''The train was going fast and he was using the horn and the truck was not moving until the train crashed [into] the trailer and split it in half. The operator of the high-speed passenger train, Brightline, released the following statement: “A car carrier was stopped on the tracks. No injuries to crew or passengers. Service suspended between [Fort Lauderdale] and Miami (only) while PD and Brightline’s team work to clear the scene, and that effort is being affected by the weather.”
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