One person died and several others were injured on the Florida Turnpike near Jupiter Friday.
The driver of an SUV swerved into a Turnpike maintenance truck parked on the side of the road and flipped upon impact into the path of a semi, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Truck driver Suni Abdalla was driving to Miami from Orlando and watched the crash unfold. "It's really scary. We were going almost 70 miles per hour and braking is like.. scary. We all thought we were going to collapse together."
First responders quickly, but carefully, cut the SUV open to get to the injured passengers out. Among them was a 12-year old child.
Trauma Hawk transported at least one passenger to the hospital.
"Getting a helicopter out here is really difficult. We have to stop traffic in all directions for everybody's safety-- the safety of the people in the helicopter and the motorists coming out here in the Turnpike," said Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Mark Wysocky.
One person died. Five others are recovering at St. Mary's Medical Center.
Southbound lanes remained blocked between Indiantown Rd (SR-706) and PGA Blvd (SR-786) for several hours.
Just before 3 p.m. troopers reopened the blocked lanes.
UPDATE: 1 person is dead, several others taken to hospital following crash on turnpike. pic.twitter.com/VheZM0cbLB
— Katie Johnson (@Katie_Johnson_) August 12, 2016
BREAKING: traffic just opened on the turnpike SB. Traffic slowly moving NB but it's still backed up right now.
— Katie Johnson (@Katie_Johnson_) August 12, 2016
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