PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla — Nine people — including six children between the ages of one and 14 — are dead and another man is in the hospital with serious injuries after a SUV crashed into a canal and flipped over in western Palm Beach County on Monday night, authorities said.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said the wreck happened just before 7:30 p.m. in the area of Hatton Highway and Southwest Connors Highway, outside of Belle Glade.
According to a crash report from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, a 2023 Ford Explorer, driven by Pamela Wiggins, 56, was going westbound on Hatton Highway and approaching a southbound curve.
The vehicle lost control, drove off the road, slammed into a guardrail, then flipped over and landed in a canal.
Teri Barbera, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office, said four people were pronounced dead at the scene, while another six were taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where five of them tragically passed away.
In addition to Wiggins, the deceased have been identified as Leiana Alyse Hall, 30, Anyia Monique Lee Tucker, 21, as well as six children, ages 14, 8, two 5-year-olds, a 3-year-old, and a 1-year-old.
A tenth passenger, Jorden Rickey Hall, 26, was taken St. Mary's Medical Center with serious injuries.
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According to the crash report, the driver, Wiggins, would've celebrated her 57th birthday on Tuesday. The report said Anyia Monique Lee Tucker and one of the 5-year-old victims were from Bridgeport, Connecticut, while the 3-year-old boy was from Chesapeake, Virginia.
“I worked with her and we developed a friendship spent a few summers together while I lived in Connecticut," Ryanne Noel said of Anyia Monique Lee Tucker. "She was a bright young light of a soul she was a beautiful person and a wonderful mother to her baby girl. I cherished the time we spent together. We traveled together and had a good friendship.”
Noel said Tucker is the mother of the 1-year-old, who also died in the crash.
The report said no one inside the vehicle was using safety equipment at the time of the crash.
The associate director of the collaborative sciences center for road safety at Florida Atlantic University said crashes on rural roads are not uncommon.
“What happens, especially in the evening, drivers are traveling along a roadway that communicates travel at higher speeds and then they become surprised when the road abruptly shifts,” Eric Dumbaugh said.
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He added that some rural roads have sharp turns.
“Often times it’s not intentional as these roads link up to dirt roads that existed way before automobiles,” Dumbaugh said.
In a Facebook post Tuesday morning, the sheriff's office said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families during this heartbreaking incident."
A deputy was also injured and taken to a local hospital, according to the sheriff's office.
Capt. Tom Reyes, a spokesperson for Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, said that when emergency crews arrived at the scene, the Ford Explorer was upside down and partially underwater in the canal.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue worked together to pull 10 people out of the water.
"I've been with the department for 20 years and this is one of the most difficult scenes I've been on," Reyes said.
In a news release, the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office said "the cause and manner of death on all victims are listed as 'pending,' while the investigation from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO) and this office continues."
The National Transportation Safety Board said the following in a post on X:
The NTSB, in coordination with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, is sending a team to conduct a safety investigation into Monday’s single vehicle crash involving a sport utility vehicle that departed the roadway and flipped into a canal, near Belle Glade, Florida.
The family has setup a GoFundMe to pay for funeral expenses.
