Family of five wiped out as train hits SUV smashing it ‘like a soft drink can’

26 September 2023 , 08:08

599     0

The Hernandez family were all killed in the horror crash (from left) - Enedelia, 50, Alyssa, 17, Julian, 9, Jose, 52, and Anaelia, 22

A family of five was wiped out when their SUV was hit by a train leaving the car looking "like a soft drink can that’s been smashed."

Six passengers were killed in total, including three children, when the on a crossing in Hillsborough County, Florida, at around 6.45pm on September 23. They were on their way to a quinceañera. Police later identified the six killed as five members of the same family - dad Jose Hernandez, 52, his wife of 30 years Enedelia Hernandez, 50, and their children Julian Hernandez, 9, Alyssa Hernandez, 17, and Anaelia Hernandez, 22. Also killed was family friend Jakub Lopez, 17.

All of them apart from dad Jose died at the scene. The 52-year-old was rushed to hospital but sadly later passed away. A seventh passenger, Guillermo Gama, the 23-year-old partner of one of the children, was also thrown from the Cadillac Escalade SUVand remains in critical condition at Lakeland Regional Hospital.

For all the latest news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to.

Jose Hernandez, 52, and his wife of 30 years Enedelia, 50, were both killed (Facebook)

“As you can imagine, the carnage that’s created when these two collide,” speaking on the night Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “The SUV, we can see from the video, begins to catapult and flip violently several times before it’s landed. 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.

Missing radioactive capsule found after huge search - and it's the size of a pea

After being struck, “the SUV, we can see from the video, begins to catapult and flip violently several times before it landed a distance from this crossing,” he told reporters. “Anyone who goes and sees the carnage that’s been created, whenever you compound that with the fact that some children lost their life here, maybe an entire family lost their life here tonight – we are all visibly shaken,” he added. “We are rattled at our core after witnessing what happened here tonight.”

Siblings Alyssa, Julian and Anaelia all died at the scene (Facebook)

Jose, Enedelia and their son Julian. He was just nine when he died (Facebook)

A niece of Jose and Enedelia, Leticia Resendez, set up a GoFundMe to help pay for the unexpected funerals. She wrote: "The Trevino-Hernandez family is living through the most tragic and unexplainable heart break right now. As you can imagine this unexpected incident has wrecked the entire family who now has to plan for a funeral for five people."

Speaking to the Tampa Bay Times, she recalled the last great memory she had with the family. They had gathered together for a birthday party about a year ago and Anaelia had just graduated from college in Georgia. Alyssa was talking about wanting to go on to study medicine. Throughout the party, young Julian was running around the playground. He was having such a good time he didn’t want to leave.

Guillermo Gama, the only survivor was left fighting for his life in hospital (@William.gama1/Facebook)

Both Alyssa and Jakub were students at Plant City High School. Tributes have poured in for every victim in this awful crash. Donating $200 dollars to the fundraiser, one well wisher wrote: "This is family of my friend and can’t imagine going through something like this. Prayers for the family."

In a heart wrenching post on Monday morning, the Chick-fil-A in Plant City, Florida, where 17-year-old Jakub Lopez worked, paid tribute to the teen and asked for prayers from the community. "It’s unfortunate that we again must ask our community to pray for our team and family. We’ve suffered the loss of another young team member and we’re all mourning this awful tragedy," the location wrote on .

The post described Jakub as someone with "the sweetest disposition and kindest soul." It went on to say that many customers and crew members "adored" the teen and relished listening to his stories about working on his Volkswagen Beetle "or sharing a frosted coffee with him."

Jakub Lopez was one of the six killed in a train wreck near Tampa, Florida, and Chick-fil-A posted a tribute to him (Facebook)

Alyssa Hernandez, 17, was killed in the crash along with her siblings (Facebook)

"His sweetness was exemplary in teaching others how to provide hospitality," the post continued. "Please keep Jakub's friends and family in your prayers as they go through this difficult time. While we'll never be able to replace what Jakub brought to our store, we're all going to do our best to be #SweetLikeJakub."

Gama's aunt set up another fundraiser where she wrote, “On Saturday 9/23/23 my nephew Guillermo E. (Gordo/Doorbell) Gama III was involved in a fatal train wreck that stole the lives of an entire family. The deceased victims were [Gama's] girlfriend, parents, 2 siblings and a friend of one of the siblings.” The post adds, “Gama is only 23 years old with a passion for life and family. He is currently in Critical Condition at Lakeland Regional Hospital fighting for his life.”

Charlie Jones