Five of the seven victims killed in a fiery multi-vehicle crash were children in a church van, the Florida Highway Patrol said Friday.
The children were believed to range in age from 8 or 9 to teenagers, Lt. Patrick Riordan said at a news conference. The van seemed to be heading to Disney World.
Two adults were also killed in the crash outside Gainesville Thursday afternoon.
The deadly accident involved the church van, two tractor-trailers and one midsize vehicle, Riordan said. The trucks and passenger vehicles collided in the southbound lanes of Interstate 75, causing a massive fire, the Alachua County Fire Rescue said.
It was unclear what caused the accident, though investigators are looking into all possibilities including the drivers' actions, weather and road quality.
"One life is tragic, and the loss of life period is tragic," Riordan said. "Unfortunately we had seven people lose their lives."
Authorities are now focused on notifying the victim's families. The relationship between those in the church van was not immediately clear.
Troy Roberts, from the Florida Department of Transportation, said it was not clear whether the guardrail failed or if it couldn't handle the impact.
"Guardrails are there to stop as much as they can," Roberts said. "Unfortunately, in this case they didn't."
He said the transportation department will work overnight to resurface the asphalt and get all three lanes on Interstate 75 open as soon as possible.
Between six and eight people were also injured, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
It was the worst accident on I-75 in Alachua County since January 2012, when 11 people died in a chain reaction crash attributed to heavy fog and smoke on the roadway, according to The Associated Press.
