LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Florida Highway Patrol troopers are investigating a 7-vehicle crash Sunday on the Florida Turnpike in Lake County in which two people died.
Troopers initially reported the crash as a quadruple-fatality, but later clarified that it was a complex scene with multiple people transported to hospitals.
Lake County Fire Rescue and FHP responded about 5:30 p.m. Sunday to the multiple-vehicle crash near the State Road 27 exit in Howey-in-the-Hills.
Troopers said the chain-reaction crash happened when a 2015 Dodge pickup truck smashed into the rear of a Hyundai Sonata which was the first in a line of vehicles that had stopped for traffic.
Two passengers in the Sonata, Valentina Martinez, 20, and Antonio Mesa, 18, were killed in the crash, FHP said.
The 19-year-old driver and an 18-year-old passenger in the Sonata were seriously injured in the crash, troopers said.
The driver of the pickup truck, Bilal Ead, 32, was also seriously injured.
Four other people received minor injuries in the crash.
One vehicle left the scene before troopers arrived at the scene.
Cox Media Group
