Fiery Halloween crash critically injures child, hospitalizes 8 others in Highlands County: FHP
LAKE PLACID, Fla. - The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a fiery crash that took place on Halloween night in Lake Placid.
Troopers say a 16-year-old boy from Jacksonville was driving a pickup truck north on Catfish Creek Road, south of Catfish Lane, around 6 p.m. on Thursday, as a 49-year-old Lake Placid woman in a sedan with five children in the car, was traveling south on Catfish Creek Road, north of the intersection Catfish Lane.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, when the teen driving the pickup truck turned left onto Catfish Lane in front of the sedan, the front of the truck collided with the front of the sedan.
Troopers say several people in the sedan were thrown from the vehicle upon impact and the truck burst into flames.
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The driver of the pickup truck and two of his three teenage passengers suffered serious injuries in the crash. His fourth passenger, an 18-year-old boy, sustained minor injuries.
The Lake Placid woman and four of her five passengers, who ranged in age from 7 to 15, were seriously injured in the crash. A 7-year-old girl who was in the car sustained critical injuries, according to FHP.
The injured were taken to area hospitals for treatment.
An FHP report states that nobody in the sedan was wearing a seat belt. It is unknown if anyone in the pickup truck was wearing a seat belt.
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