Police: Three People Killed After SUV Vs. Bear Crash
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Three people were killed and eight others were hospitalized after a SUV hit and killed a black bear, resulting in a chain reaction crash with two other cars in Florida's Everglades Sunday evening.
The first crash happened along Snake Road in Alligator Alley on the Big Cypress Seminole reservation, said Seminole Tribe Spokesman Gary Bitner. Snake Road is near mile marker 49 on Alligator Alley.
Broward Sheriff's spokesman Mike Jachles described the first vehicle as a Cadillac SUV, possibly an Escalade. Jachles said there were at least three people in the SUV with injures.
WATCH MaryAnn Martinez' report, click here.
According to Seminole police, a second car stopped to help the passengers inside the SUV. That's when a third car, a Mercedes, crashed into the second car. The three people from car number two were killed.
The passengers from the Mercedes have various degrees of injures.
"There was an 45-year-old man, a 14-year-old son, a daughter, and a grandchild in that third vehicle." said Jachles.
Six patients were transported to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale. Two others were taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.
Of the 13 passengers in all three cars, two walked away uninjured including the driver of the SUV that hit the bear. Jachles said the driver walked away without a scratch, even though the SUV was practically totaled after hitting and killing the black bear.
The Florida Fish and Wild-life Commission said the Everglades is the natural habitat of black bears.
RELATED CONTENT: