7 Children, Riding Alone, Die in Crash

TalonRider · January 26, 2006

By LISE FISHER and ABBY GOODNOUGH

January 26, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla., Jan. 25 — All seven children in a car, apparently members of the same family, were killed Wednesday when a tractor-trailer slammed into their vehicle on a rural road near Gainesville, law enforcement officers said.

The car, which carried no adults, was stopped behind a school bus that was letting students out at an intersection when the crash occurred about 3:30 p.m., said Ron Cooper, a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol in Jacksonville. The car burst into flames and ran into the rear of the school bus, injuring seven bus passengers ranging in age from 5 to 16.

State troopers at the scene said it appeared that a 15-year-old had been driving the car.

"There was no adult person inside the car," Lt. Michael Burroughs of the Highway Patrol told CNN, adding that Florida did not allow 15-year-olds to drive without adult supervision.

The accident occurred on State Road 121 outside Lake Butler, a small town about 30 miles north of Gainesville in northern Florida. No information was immediately available about why the 15-year-old had been driving unsupervised.

The bus was carrying a total of nine middle and elementary school children, law enforcement officials said. Of the seven injured, two were in critical condition and three in serious condition at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida in Gainesville, the hospital said.

The two other passengers were in good condition at Shands Hospital in nearby Starke. The truck driver, who was not seriously injured, was also treated there, Lieutenant Burroughs said.

Tina Mann, who identified herself as an aunt of the children killed, said their home was in Lake Butler. She identified them as Nicole Mann, 15, the driver; Elizabeth Mann and Ashley Keen, also 15; Johnny Mann, 13; Miranda Scott, 10; Heaven Mann, 3; and Anthony Lamb, 21 months.

By evening, law enforcement officers were beginning to remove the children's bodies from the charred wreckage of the car. It was still unclear why the truck had hit it.

An initial investigation found no evidence that the truck driver had braked or tried to brake in the moments before the crash, Lieutenant Burroughs said. Investigators will try to determine how fast the truck was going in the 60-mile-an-hour zone, and whether any malfunction could have caused the crash.

"We can't speculate on anything at this point," Lieutenant Burroughs said.

Joyce Clemons, who lives near the scene of the crash, said the school bus had ended up in her driveway against a pine tree.

"I knew it was a bad accident," she said. "I went out the door dialing 911, and there was a little girl pinned at the back of the bus and she was partially through the window. She was halfway in and out of the bus. I told her to just be still, help was on the way. She was in a daze."

Ms. Clemons, 53, said she had seen other injured children wandering about and crying, and panicked parents trying to get to the scene. She did not even realize at first that any vehicle other than the truck and the bus had been involved, she said, because the car was too badly burned to tell what it was.

Ms. Clemons said the bus's lights were flashing and its stop sign was out at the time of the crash.

Grandpa dies on hearing 7 children killed in fiery wreck

CNN.com

Thursday, January 26, 2006; Posted: 11:44 a.m. EST

LAKE BUTLER, Florida (CNN) -- News of a crash in which seven children perished so upset their grandfather that he had a massive heart attack and died, the children's adoptive mother said.

"I lost my daddy tonight," Barbara Mann said Wednesday. "My dad died of a massive heart attack tonight over all this. He lost all seven of his grandkids ... I can't deal with this."

A tractor-trailer plowed into the children's car near Gainesville, Florida, Wednesday, slamming it into the rear of a school bus that had stopped to let children off.

The car burst into flames, killing all the children inside, said Lt. Mike Burroughs of the Florida Highway Patrol. (Full story)

They have been identified as: Cynthia Mann and Elizabeth Mann, both 15; Ashley Keen and Johnny Mann, both 13; Miranda Finn, 9; Heaven Mann, 3; and Anthony Lamb, 20 months.

All were adopted foster children, except for Anthony, who was in the process of being adopted, Burroughs said.

Ashley and Miranda were also cousins.

At the wheel was Cynthia Mann, who had a learner's permit. Under Florida law, it is illegal for a 15-year-old to drive without an adult.

Cynthia Mann's aunt said the girl had just dropped off another child and was taking the rest of the children home "to get ready to go to church."

"It's my understanding she did not cause the accident," Tina Mann said of her niece. "The same thing would have happened had there been an adult in the car with her. We'd just have one more death in the family."

The accident occurred shortly after 3 p.m. four miles south of Lake Butler. At the time, all three vehicles -- the tractor-trailer, the car and the bus -- were heading north, said Lt. Bill Leeper of the Florida Highway Patrol.

The tractor-trailer left no skid marks, police told CNN Thursday. But there were marks on the road indicating the driver veered away after the initial impact, police added.

Its driver has been hospitalized and is medicated, police said, adding that they are waiting to question him about the accident. The driver had been cited for unsafe driving five years ago.

Three of the nine children aboard the bus were seriously injured and transported by helicopter to hospitals. None of the students' injuries were life-threatening, Leeper said.

A spokeswoman for Shands Hospital in Gainesville said eight patients were transported, ages 5 to 16. Two were in critical condition; three in serious condition, Betsy Miller said.

The driver of the bus was also injured, but her condition wasn't immediately known.