Seven children and two adults were killed in a fiery New Year’s Day crash on a road in rural California.
The head-on accident happened when the driver of a Dodge SUV veered onto the dirt shoulder of the road and then overcorrected and slammed into a Ford F-150 truck going the other way.
Officials say the accident, which took place 90-minutes north of Bakersfield, California, set the Ford truck on fire with its victims inside.
All eight people in the truck, including the seven children aged between 6 and 15 years old, and a female driver were pronounced dead at the scene.
The dead driver of the Dodge has been identified as 28-year-old Daniel Luna of Avenal, California.
Authorities say that the Ford was only equipped with six seatbelts and none of those killed in it have yet been identified.
Captain Kevin Clays of California Highway Patrol said that officers who responded to the scene have been offered counseling.
“It’s tragic for the community. It’s tragic for our officers that respond to these incidents," he said.
