Two children hospitalized after fatal I-75 crash

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Update: FHP spokesman Patrick Riordan said the driver and the deceased woman were the grandparents of the children riding in the 2020 Ford Explorer. He said to the best of his knowledge the children did not suffer serious injuries. 

Our original story:

A woman died and two children were hospitalized after the car they were riding in struck a semi truck parked in the emergency lane of I-75. 

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The accident occurred just after 7 a.m. Wednesday morning in south Columbia County, just north of the Alachua County line, according to the Florida High Patrol (FHP). A 2020 Ford Explorer was traveling south on I-75 carrying a 62-year-old man and woman and two children, ages 3 and 6 months, when it veered into the emergency lane around mile marker 412. 

The vehicle hit the back left corner of the semi trailer, sending it southward and westward. It then hit a light poll and flipped, finally coming to rest on its roof. 

FHP reported that both children, a girl and a boy, were transported to UF Shands Hospital in Gainesville.

FHP did not immediately return a request for comment on the condition of the children or for confirmation of whether the four people were members of the same family. They are all listed as Illinois residents.

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