Southbound I-75 shut down on Thanksgiving morning after a three-vehicle crash between Alachua and Gainesville led to the deaths of an 83-year-old and 13-year-old passenger from High Springs.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), a black sedan travelling in the middle lane entered the right lane where it struck a semi-truck. The incident occurred near mile marker 397 around 10:40 a.m.
The sedan then moved back across its lane and into the left lane. When it entered the left lane, the front of the vehicle struck the rear of an SUV, causing it to hit the shoulder and flip several times.
Of the four people in the SUV, an 83-year-old female and 13-year-old female were pronounced dead by emergency responders. A 50-year-old female passenger from High Springs sustained serious injuries and the 55-year-old male driver from High Springs received minor injuries. All four were wearing seatbelts.
None of the persons in the sedan—a 23-year-old male driver and 21-year-old male passenger, both from St. Petersburg—or the 38-year-old semi-truck driver from Clermont were injured, according to the FHP report.
FHP shut down all southbound lanes for hours and said it is an active investigation.