LAKE BUTLER, Fla. -- Seven members of one extended family -- all children -- were killed Wednesday afternoon after their car was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer as they waited for a stopped Union County school bus, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred just after 3:30 p.m. on state Road 121, four miles south of Lake Butler.
FHP Lt. Mike Burroughs said the victims' were all related and ranged in age from 20 months to 15 years. It was unclear why there was no one of legal driving age in the car.
Channel 4 learned that the school bus transporting nine students was stopped to let kids off. A resident in the area told Channel 4 that the big rig was moving a high speed when it "ran over" the Pontiac Bonneville, then struck the bus.
The seven children died less than two miles away from where they lived.
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In addition to the dead, three people were seriously injured and several others hurt. Air ambulances were launched from Jacksonville and Lake City, taking patients to various trauma centers.
According to authorities at Shands-Gainsville, eight patients were transported to Shands HealthCare hospitals -- seven of them children.
Two of five people at Shands-Gainesville were in critical condition.
The driver of the tractor-trailer, Alvin Wilkerson, 31, of Jacksonville, was reported in good condition at Shands in Starke. He worked for Crete Carrier, based in Lincoln, Neb.
