Death toll from Florida crashes now 11
February 1, 2012
(CNN) — The death toll from a string of crashes on Interstate 75 near Gainesville, Florida, early Sunday amid heavy smoke from a nearby brush fire has risen to 11 with the discovery of another body, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
An additional victim was found in a Dodge truck, the Highway Patrol said in a statement. The body was not immediately identified.
The National Weather Service warned that patchy smoke and fog may still be present in the area Wednesday.
The smoke is from a brush fire at the nearby Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. The Boardwalk Fire was 100% contained, but smoke could linger for months, Ludie Bond, wildfire mitigation specialist for the Gainesville area, said this week.
Among the dead from Sunday’s accidents were four members of a Marietta, Georgia, family, part of a church delegation returning from a conference in Orlando, according to CNN affiliate WSB.
Jose Carmo, pastor at a Brazilian church; his wife, Andriana; and their daughter Leticia were killed, along with Jose Carmo’s brother, Edsom Carmo, who was driving one of the church’s vans, and a companion.
The sole survivor was Jose and Andriana Carmo’s younger daughter, 15-year-old Lidiane Carmo, who was injured.
Lidiane Carmo learned Tuesday that her parents and sister had been killed, church pastor Aaro Amazonas told WSB.
“She will need support,” friend Rosanna Alves told the station. “She will need medical support. She will need psychological support. And she will need a family.”
However, church members are concerned that the teen may face legal troubles.
“The Carmo family was in the United States illegally,” said Alonso Oliveira, a family friend and pastor. “The family wanted to obtain legal status but had no laws to help them do so.”
The family stayed in the United States after their visas expired, WSB reported.
At a meeting Tuesday night, a representative from the Brazilian consulate general’s office met with church members, the station said, but was unable to provide answers on whether Brazil would assist in transporting the bodies back to South America.
It’s too early to say what might happen regarding the 15-year-old, the representative said, according to WSB.
The Florida Highway Patrol had reopened the section of I-75 where the crashes occurred barely half an hour before the pileup.
The interstate was closed for about three hours earlier Sunday, after a pair of crashes late Saturday on I-75 and nearby U.S. 441, Highway Patrol Lt. Patrick Riordan said Monday. Troopers, the state Department of Transportation and the local sheriff’s office reopened the road after determining that conditions were improving, he said.
I-75 reopened at 3:26 a.m. Thirty-three minutes later, callers began to report chain-reaction crashes in both the north and southbound lanes.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has asked the state Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the circumstances behind the crashes.
— CNN’s AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report.