Six people are dead, including three children, after a train crashed into a car crossing railroad tracks in Hillsborough County, Florida, on Saturday evening.
A group in an SUV was on their way to a quinceañera at a home just across the railroad tracks when the train crashed into them at around 6:45 p.m. Four males and three females were in the car, some of them children, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.
A witness parked by the tracks honked the horn to try to get the group's attention.
"The SUV, we can see from the video, begins to catapult and flip violently several times before it landed a distance from this crossing," Sheriff Chad Chronister said at a news briefing Saturday night.
The railroad crossing area is not a very well-traveled, and it is marked with a stop sign encouraging people to stop and look both ways, Chronister said.
Deputies and other first responders arrived after they got a call about an accident near Jim Lefler Circle and U.S. Route 92 in Plant City.
"This SUV that looks like a soft drink can that's been smashed. It's that horrible to see," Chronister said.
Five passengers were “violently ejected from the SUV” and found dead at the scene.
The victims, who were all rear seat passengers, were identified as Julian Hernandez, 9, Jakub Lopez, 17, Alyssa Hernandez, 17, Anaelia Hernandez, 22, and Enedelia Hernandez, 50.
First responders were able to remove two males, the driver and a front-seat passenger, using the Jaws of Life. They were taken to a hospital, where the driver, Jose Hernandez, 52, died overnight.
The front-seat passenger remains in critical condition.
The exact relationship among all seven passengers was not known; all are believed to be Plant City residents.
"The word 'devastating' doesn’t even begin to describe the tragedy that unfolded here,” Chronister said. “Hillsborough County lost a family today, and our hearts are shattered.”
