MARION COUNTY, Fla. – A man was killed and two children were among five others who were hurt when a pickup truck hit a guardrail on Interstate 75 in Marion County on Friday, overturning into oncoming travel lanes, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The three-vehicle wreck happened around 5:52 p.m. near mile marker 365, around Reddick, involving a pickup truck with three occupants, a sedan with three occupants and an SUV with seven occupants, troopers said.
According to an FHP crash report, the pickup truck was traveling southbound on I-75 in the leftmost lane when the 65-year-old Apopka man driving it lost control, causing it to strike the center median guardrail. The pickup overturned over the guardrail and struck the sedan, which was traveling northbound in the left lane of I-75, while an SUV that was also in the northbound left lane was struck by debris from the crash.
From the pickup truck, the Apopka man was pronounced dead at the hospital while his two passengers — a 74-year-old man and a 57-year-old man, both from Orlando and wearing seat belts — were hospitalized for treatment of serious injuries, the report states. Troopers believe the Apopka man was not wearing a seat belt.
The sedan was being driven by a 42-year-old woman with two passengers, a 12-year-old girl and a 7-year-old girl, all of Georgia and wearing seat belts during the wreck. Each of them suffered minor injuries in the crash and were taken to hospitals, troopers said.
In the SUV, a 41-year-old man was driving with a 42-year-old woman, an 18-year-old man and four girls between the ages of 13 and 16, all from Georgia. All of them were wearing seat belts and none of them were hurt in the wreck, the report states.
Note: This map depicts the general area of this crash and not necessarily its exact location.
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