Series Of I-95 Crashes In Volusia County Leave 3 Dead: Police

VOLUSIA COUNTY, FL — A series of five car crashes on Interstate 95 in Volusia County near Edgewater early Thursday have left multiple people dead and many hospitalized, a Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman confirmed to Patch.

Three people are dead after one crash in the southbound lanes and four in the northbound lanes, involving over 17 vehicles total, including some semi-trucks. At least one of the crashes resulted in a fire. A child was flown in stable condition to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando, and an unknown amount of people were taken to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, authorities said.

The crashes occurred at approximately 1:30 a.m. Thursday. One person died in the four northbound crashes, which involved 11 vehicles, and two people died in the southbound crash, which involved six vehicles, according to Florida Highway Patrol.

Northbound I-95 traffic was closed from CR-5A to SR-442, while southbound traffic was closed from SR-44 to SR-442 at midday Thursday, according to Florida Highway Patrol. The southbound entrance ramp from SR-442 to I-95 was re-opened at approximately 10 a.m. Authorities are urging to people to avoid the area.

There will be an added delay to the re-opening of northbound lanes as emergency crews need to make road repairs after the lanes were damaged by the crash and subsequent fire. Once debris is cleared, the road will have to be re-paved, according to authorities.

Heavy fog and smoke from a prescribed burn made visibility in the area extremely low, Florida Highway Patrol told WESH.

Video from FOX 35 Orlando of the aftermath of the crash shows several semi-trucks piled up and suffering extensive damage with some of them on fire.