5 die in 3-vehicle crash on Florida highway, cops say

Five people, including a 1-year-old girl, were killed in a crash that involved three vehicles on a Florida highway, according to a crash report.

A 2015 Ford Explorer carrying seven people was heading northbound on a highway in Tampa just after 9:20 p.m. on Oct. 30 when it crossed the center lane for an “unknown reason,” according to the report from the Florida Highway Patrol.

The Ford Explorer and a 2021 Nissan Frontier, which was traveling southbound, collided “nearly head-on,” the report says.

The Ford Explorer slid to the west shoulder of the highway while the Nissan Frontier came to a stop in the southbound lane with no lights on. A tractor trailer that was traveling southbound then struck the passenger side of the Nissan Frontier, sending both vehicles into the highway’s east shoulder.

The 20-year-old driver of the Ford Explorer as well as a 56-year-old passenger and a 12-year-old passenger died at the scene, the report says. A 1-year-old also in the vehicle died later at a hospital.

The 53-year-old driver of the Nissan Frontier died at the scene, according to the report. There were no passengers in that vehicle.

The 60-year-old man driving the tractor trailer was not injured.

The three other passengers of the Ford Explorer, a 22-year-old woman, a 31-year-old woman and a 5-year-old girl, all suffered serious injuries, the report says.

Tampa is about 84 miles southwest of Orlando.