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Seven siblings die in crash
26/01/2006 14:12 - (SA)
Lake Butler - Seven children who had been adopted by a single family were killed on Wednesday in a fiery crash when their car was crushed between a truck and a stopped school bus in rural northern Florida.
The children, ranging in age from 21 months to 15 years, were headed toward their home about 3.2km north of the crash site. The truck hit them from behind, pushing their car into the bus and causing the car to burst into flames, police said.
Everyone in the car was killed, including the 15-year-old girl who was driving illegally. All of the youngsters had been adopted by the same family and lived together, police said.
It was unclear why the children were unaccompanied.
Evidence from the scene showed that the truck, which was carrying bottled water, did not brake before hitting the car on the two-lane road, said Lieutenant Mike Burroughs of the Florida highway patrol.
'Mangled, charred mess'
The bus ended up 61m from where the car struck it, and the cab of the truck lay overturned near the scene, Burroughs said. The bus was at an approved bus stop, but it was not clear whether children were getting on or off.
"It's a very chaotic scene," Burroughs said. "It's just a mangled, charred mess."
Nine students were on the bus, and three were thrown from the vehicle by the force of the crash. The extent of their injuries was also unclear.
State police said three were seriously hurt and six others suffered minor injuries. Hospital officials said two were in critical condition and three were in serious condition.
The drivers of the bus and the truck were also taken to a hospital. The truck driver suffered minor injuries, and authorities planned to interview him. The bus driver was thrown from the vehicle, and her condition is uncertain.
The car was driven by 15-year-old Nicki Mann, who was with siblings Elizabeth Mann, 15; Johnny Mann, 13; Heaven Mann, 3; Ashley Kenn, 13; Miranda Finn, who was either 8 or 9-years-old; and Anthony Lamb, who was almost two-years-old. Lamb was in the process of being adopted, Burroughs said.
The bus was operated by the Union County school district, which has three schools from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade in the area.
The national transportation safety board said it was sending a team of investigators.
Fatal accidents involving school buses are relatively rare in the United States. The national highway traffic safety administration reports that 71 passengers and 42 drivers have been killed since 1994 in school vehicles - an average of about 10 people per year.
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