Four people were killed Tuesday in Martin County, Florida due to a two-vehicle crash involving a minivan and a Tesla. The Tesla caught on fire following the collision. One bystander described trying to rescue a teen from the Tesla, saying: “I was face to face. I tried to crawl up underneath the car to try and do something there but the fact it was exploding people were yelling, ‘the car is going to explode, the car is going to explode.’ I couldn’t physically reach the kid that was in there.”
Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Indiana Miranda said the car crash occurred when the front of a Tesla sedan collided with the right front of a Chrysler minivan in an intersection, causing the electric vehicle to flip over and catch fire, according to a report by WPTV.
The Tesla had been traveling southbound on Federal Highway in the inside lane, approaching the intersection, while the minivan was traveling north on Federal Highway in the left turn lane, making a left turn within the intersection.
The scene left the intersection filled with debris as rescue crews tried to save the victims of the crash.
MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT: Crews are on scene of a two vehicle accident with heavy damage. One vehicle is on fire. Northbound and Southbound lanes on Federal Hwy are shut down at Baker Road. pic.twitter.com/Cpj53TVOiY
— Martin County Fire Rescue (@MartinCountyFR) October 18, 2022
The driver of the Tesla died in the wreck. He was a male, born in 2004, which would make him 17 or 18 years old. His female passenger, who was born in 2003 (18-19 years old) was taken to a nearby hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
The driver of the minivan, a male born in 1952 (69-70 years old) died in the car crash. His female passenger, born in 1949 (72-73 years old), also died in the wreck.
“I saw what was pulled out of that Tesla, and they were kids, they were kids,” one emotional witness told WPTV. “I watched them pull the drape over the body and I watched them pull the other man out.”
Another witness told the outlet that he tried to rescue the teens from the fiery Tesla.
“I was face to face. I tried to crawl up underneath the car to try and do something there but the fact it was exploding people were yelling, ‘the car is going to explode, the car is going to explode.’ I couldn’t physically reach the kid that was in there,” he said.
The Good Samaritan then rushed over to the minivan, where he saw the woman was still breathing. So he cut her out of her seatbelt and began administering CPR.
“I was yelling wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, and that was it,” he said. “I’m sorry, I wish I could’ve done more — my heart goes out to them, it really does.”
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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