Florida Turnpike Closed Following Explosive Crash
At Least One Person Killed In Crash
A head-on collision between a sport
utility vehicle and a freight truck carrying 240 pounds of explosives for the
military killed one person Wednesday night and closed a 17-mile stretch of
Florida's Turnpike, according to Local 6 News.
The vehicle then slammed head-on into a northbound Volvo freight truck
and ruptured one of five cases of blasting caps inside the vehicle.
The sport utility vehicle was burned so badly that there was only a shell
left, according to Local 6 News.
Ross was killed instantly. Ross' brother, Zachary, 20, and a friend,
Kelly Melissa Raw, 18, of Oviedo, were also injured in the crash and transported
to a local hospital in critical condition.
Local 6 News reported the three people in the Explorer were headed home
for the holidays from Jacksonville State University.
The driver of the Volvo truck, Glen Rice, and his wife Janice Rice were
not injured in the collision.
A team of explosives experts from Patrick Air Force Base arrived on the
scene at about 11:30 p.m. to inspect the remaining explosives on the truck.
Officials closed 17 miles of the turnpike from U.S. 27 to state Road 50
in both directions Thursday. Local 6 News reported that southbound lanes were
opened at 10:45 a.m. Thursday but northbound lanes could remain closed until
late Thursday night.
Florida Department of Transportation officials said the state is losing
about $624,000 in commerce for each hour the north-south thoroughfare is closed.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers said Tera Ross, 22, was headed to South
Florida with two other passengers when her 2000 Ford Explorer crossed the
turnpike median at the Orange-Lake County line and went into the northbound
lanes.
Charles Mims
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