Six Dead in Florida Crash
The accident happened at 3:45 p.m. on State Road 60, just west of the Kissimmee River, when the eastbound truck crossed the center line and smashed into the westbound van, said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Larry Coggins.
The van and the cab of the truck then burst into flames. All five people in the van were dead at the scene. The truck driver, Salvador De La Cruz, who was thrown from cab, was airlifted to an Orlando Regional Medical Center where he died, Coggins said.
De La Cruz, 44, had just dropped off a load of oranges at a processing plant, Coggins said.
Witnesses reported seeing smoke from miles away.
Officials were still working to identify the five people killed in the van. Coggins said the trailer on the van had a Tennessee plate.
One witness initially said four horses also died in the crash, but the highway patrol said no animals were involved.
The road remained closed late Friday as workers cleared up debris. Traffic backed up for 15 miles in each direction on State Road 60, which is two lanes over the remote Kissimmee River stretch but is four lanes elsewhere on its run between from Tampa on the west coast to Vero Beach on the Atlantic Coast.
``This portion of 60 is one of the busiest east-west connectors in central Florida,'' Coggins said. The nearest east-west routes are SR70, which runs through Okeechobee City about 50 miles to the south, and SR 50, which runs through Kissimmee about 35 miles to the north.
Strong thunderstorms rolled through central Florida during the afternoon, but Coggins didn't know if bad weather played a role in the crash.
``It had rained earlier but at the time of the collision it wasn't raining,'' he said. ``The roads were wet.''
Indian Lake Estates is 50 miles south of Orlando.