OCALA, FL – A minivan returning from post-hurricane cleanup work was involved in a fatal accident in Marion County on Wednesday, according to the Ocala StarBanner.
Five men who were coming back from Georgia and heading toward Naples were in a Honda Odyssey van that was traveling south on Interstate 75.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the driver of the Honda lost control of the vehicle at the top of a hill near the exit for State Road 326, after one of the tires apparently blew out.
The van veered to the left, entered the grassy median, and then re-entered I-75. The driver of a southbound Amazon tractor-trailer was unable to avoid the van and crashed into it in a T-bone style collision.
The minivan went off the roadway and down a grassy embankment, where it eventually stopped.
The five men in the van were all from Haiti. One of them, a passenger, was killed in the wreck. He was identified as 44-year-old Jounel L. Hyppolite.
The four others were transported to HCA Florida Ocala Hospital, the driver, 40-year-old Previl Alexis, 48-year-old Anold Drive, 27-year-old Zamor Ovenson, and another man who was not yet identified. Ovenson and the unidentified man were listed in critical condition, while Drive and Alexis were in serious condition.
Southbound traffic was blocked on I-75 while the scene was being cleared and investigated.
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