One person has been killed and nine others have been seriously injured after a driver lost control of a 15-passenger van. Although the five-car crash was devastating, several witnesses who stopped to help the accident victims may have prevented more casualties from happening.
The fatal accident occurred Tuesday morning in West Miami-Dade. According to reports, the driver of a large van suddenly lost control of the vehicle while traveling westbound on the Dolphin Expressway. As the van approached the Red Road exit ramp, the vehicle struck the crash attenuators near the guardrails and rolled over. Crash attenuators are placed next to guardrails in order to absorb the impact of a crash. The van was then struck by two other vehicles on the Dolphin Expressway.
In total, five vehicles were involved in Tuesday’s crash and three of the vehicles were severely damaged. Emergency crews responded to the scene and airlifted one accident victim who appeared to be suffering from life-threatening injuries to Ryder Trauma Center. Two others with life-threatening injuries were taken to a local hospital as well as five victims who were later listed in serious condition and one who was listed in stable condition. One crash victim died at the scene.
Although rescue crews quickly responded to the scene, several witnesses had stopped to help those who were injured in the accident. One of the vehicles had caught on fire after the crash and a garbage truck driver stopped to extinguish the fire. Two witnesses helped to pull seven passengers out of the van that had lost control. A nurse witnessed the accident and was able to perform CPR on one of the crash victims.
It is still unknown what caused the driver of the 15-passenger van to lose control, but Florida police are investigating the accident.
Source:The Miami Herald: “Traffic alert: Crash on Dolphin Expressway,” Lidia Dinkova, 26 Apr. 2011