Seven dead in Florida highway crash

A crash in Florida on Thursday involving two big rigs and two passenger vehicles killed seven people, including five children from a Louisiana church group, injured eight others, and sparked a massive fire after 50 gallons of diesel fuel spilled onto the road. The accident on southbound Interstate 75 north of Gainesville closed part of the highway in both directions, and authorities did not open the southbound lanes until Friday morning. The fire was so intense it damaged the road.

Five of the casualties were children in a group from the Avoyelles Parish House of Mercy in Marksville, La., who were traveling in a passenger van and reportedly on their way to Disney World, according to the state highway patrol. The other two victims were traveling in the two tractor-trailers involved. The crash was the worst on I-75 since an accident in January 2012, when 11 people died in a chain-reaction crash.