Six people, including three children, died after a freight train crashed into an SUV at a railroad crossing in Plant City, Florida on Saturday evening. The crash occurred on Highway 92 near the Jim Lefler Circle area.
The train’s conductor tried to slow down and blew the horn, and a witness also honked to get the driver’s attention before the crash. One person is still in critical condition. The crash occurred at about 6:45 PM.
“The word devastating doesn’t even begin to describe the tragedy that unfolded here,” Chronister said in a statement.
The victims were a man, two women and three children, and another man was injured in critical condition Sunday, officials said. They were members of a family and two friends.
Video footage reviewed by investigators showed the SUV pull up to the tracks and “slow crawl” across without stopping, Chronister said.
Chronister said the train’s conductor tried to slow down and blared its horn, and a witness pulled over in another vehicle nearby also honked to get the driver’s attention before the crash at about 6:45 p.m.
“As you can imagine the carnage that’s created when these two collide,” he said. “The SUV we can see from the video begins to catapult and flip violently several times before it’s landed a distance from this crossing.”
The car looked like a “soft drink can that’s been smashed” after impact, he said.
Chronister said he believes there were no crossing arms or alarms at the crossing because it was on a road in a not well-traveled area.
Five people who had been “violently ejected” from the car died, and a sixth died overnight in the hospital, the sheriff’s office confirmed Sunday.
They were identified as the driver, 52-year-old Jose G. Hernandez, and passengers Enedelia Hernandez, 50; Jakub A. Lopez, 17; Alyssa Hernandez, 17; Anaelia Hernandez, 22; and Julian Hernandez, 9.
The front-seat passenger, 23-year-old Guillermo E. Gama III, survived and is hospitalized in critical condition.
Jessica Lang, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said the passengers in the car driven by Jose Hernandez included his minor children, an adult child and two friends of the children.
“Hillsborough County lost a family today, and our hearts are shattered,” Chronister said Saturday.
Chronister said the people were all believed to be residents of Plant City, about 25 miles outside of Tampa in central Florida with a population of about 40,000 people.
