8 kids in youth van among the 12 lives lost to Claudette
Source: AP
By JEFF AMY and AMY FORLITI
ATLANTA (AP) Eight children in a van from a youth home for abused or neglected children were killed in a fiery multi-vehicle crash on a wet interstate that also killed a man and his baby in another vehicle, the most devastating blow from a tropical depression that claimed 12 lives in Alabama as it caused flash floods and spurred tornadoes that destroyed dozens of homes.
The crash happened Saturday about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Montgomery on Interstate 65 after vehicles likely hydroplaned on wet roads, said Butler County Coroner Wayne Garlock.
The van, containing children ages 4 to 17, belonged to the Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch, a youth home operated by the Alabama Sheriffs Association. Michael Smith, the youth ranches CEO, said the van was heading back to the ranch near Camp Hill, northeast of Montgomery, after a week at the beach in the Gulf Shores. It caught fire after the wreck and Candice Gulley, the ranch director, was the vans only survivor pulled from the flames by a bystander.
Gulley remained hospitalized Sunday in Montgomery in serious but stable condition. Shes going to survive her physical injuries, Smith said. Two of the dead in the van were Gulleys children, ages 4 and 16. Four others were ranch residents and two were guests, Smith said.
The Us Flag flies at half mast Sunday, June 20, 2021, in Camp Hill, Ala., at the Alabama Sheriff's Girls Ranch which suffered a loss of life when their van was involved in a multiple vehicle accident Saturday, resulting in eight people in the van perishing. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/alabama-crash-interstate-65-claudette-girls-tropical-weather-6c1105ca3a0d1a80c1e516a0e1e4213a
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)napi21
(45,806 posts)caused the accident. 15 vehicles were involved and they specifically mentioned a van with 9 people, 8 were children, where there was only one survivor, the driver, mother to one of the children in that van. It's a very, very sad story.
twodogsbarking
(9,810 posts)Saddening for sure,
NJCher
(35,731 posts)and then this.
I just could not believe it when I heard it. Ten children is a lot and I thought for sure I had misheard.
But sadly it was indeed 10 children.