TITUSVILLE, Fla. - The Florida Highway Patrol said on Tuesday a fourth person is dead after a crash Monday evening in Brevard County on Interstate 95.
FHP said
the four killed in the crash are sisters and were not wearing seatbelts
when their mother lost control of her Dodge Durango after a tire
blowout.
The driver was identified as
34-year-old Latorya Brown, who was wearing a seat belt and suffered
minor injuries in the crash. News 6 partner Florida Today reports Brown
has been released from the hospital.
Eleven people were
in the Dodge Durango at the time of the crash, FHP said. Officials said
eight people were sent to area hospitals, but their conditions were not
known.
Troopers said one of the victims at the
hospital is a child who was thrown over a 25-foot wall and was found
after officers heard the child crying. The child was last listed in
stable condition.
Transportation officials later said the sound wall height varies between nearly 18 feet to just over 20 feet.
"We determined that obviously the child was not on this
side of the interstate, and to our surprise, it was actually on the
other side of the barrier wall," Steven Montiero, a Florida Highway
Patrol representative, said. (The child) was ejected on that side. We
located the child, (who) was alive and transported."
The child was last listed in stable condition.
The FHP said of those killed, all are confirmed to be females under the age of 18.
"This is a mass casualty scene," said Montiero said.
"We're talking 11 people inside of an SUV. I don't know any SUV that
fits 11 people inside of it, and we're going to begin to figure this
out."
Drivers were encouraged to use State Road 50 as a detour.
No other details were immediately released.
Stay with News 6 and ClickOrlando.com for updates on this story.