ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Two sisters and their three children were killed in a two-vehicle crash Thursday night in west Orange County, according to a family member.
The fatal wreck happened around 7:55 p.m. on Clarcona Ocoee Road at Gaymar Drive.
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The Florida Highway Patrol said a Hyundai carrying six people was westbound on Clarcona Ocoee Road when the driver attempted to make a left turn onto Gaymar Drive but traveled into the path of an eastbound sport utility vehicle.
The front of the SUV struck side of the car, which was ripped in half, according to FHP. Both vehicles overturned, and five people in the Hyundai were ejected, the FHP said. All five were pronounced dead at the scene, according to an FHP report.
“This is one of the most horrific scenes we have had in quite some time,” FHP Lt. Kim Montes said.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 51-year-old Orlando woman who was wearing a seat belt, suffered serious injuries, the FHP said. The SUV driver, a 28-year-old Apopka man, suffered minor injuries, the FHP report stated.
Anthony Oliver, a pastor at Taft Missionary Baptist Church whose wife, Shawn Jones Oliver, was driving the Hyundai, said their daughters and grandchildren died in the crash.
Oliver said his wife is battling stage IV cancer and does not yet know that their daughters and grandchildren died.
Oliver identified the victims who died as Antoinette Oliver, 30; Liza Jackson, 25; Chloe Oliver, 5; Olivia Jackson, 4; and King Oliver, 5 months old.
“What kept me up all night was just imagining that final impact and what my kids were going through and my grandchildren were saying and I couldn’t be there to protect them,” he said. “Any time anything would happen, they’re always calling for me and I can imagine them calling my name. That’s what hurts, that I wasn’t there”
Oliver also recounted the final words from his grandchildren.
“Last night was the last time my grandbabies talked to me and told me, ‘Pop Pop, I love you.’ I won’t hear that no more,” he said.
“Any parent would rather their kids bury them than them burying their kids and now I’ve got to bury five,” Oliver said. “Love on them while they’re here, because when they’re gone that’s it.”
Oliver said his daughters were “good kids.”
“Both of them, they loved the church, they loved to sing, they loved to dance,” he said.
It’s unclear whether those who died wore seat belts or if the impact caused them to be ejected.
Authorities initially identified one of the victims as a teenager.
The crash is under investigation.
Such a horrific crash that happened on Clarcona-Ocoee Road Thursday night. Five people were killed, including three young children. I can’t imagine the pain this family is going through. https://t.co/8aTwpnfOwO pic.twitter.com/I6EnJh52Gd
— Mark Lehman (@MarkLehman6) March 12, 2021
It’s the second fatal crash to happened in this area this year.
[RELATED: Woman dies in Orange County crash]
A 35-year-old woman was killed in a crash on Jan. 26 when a driver attempted to make a left onto Gaymar Drive.