At around 12:30 a.m. early Monday morning a church van carrying 18 passengers crashed in Glades county killing 8 of its 18 passengers and injuring the other 10. The van was travelling from Fort Pierce when it ran a stop sign, crossed all lanes of traffic of U.S. 27 and landed in a canal on the other side. Emergency crews were contacted after one of the passengers was able to crawl out of the van and alert a car on the uncrowded road to call the police.

Police had to remove the seats of the van to dislodge the victims from the twisted metal. Police believe that the van appeared to only be rated for 16 passengers

The crash occurred in Glades County east of Lake Okeechobee. Officials aren’t sure how the driver missed the stop sign as it was not foggy at the time of the accident. People at the scene of the accident say that the van was coming home after the visited Eglise De Dieu La Jerusaem Celeste Church.

Dina Sarver, a friend of the victims, told WINK, “we’re two hours away; it was supposed to be a simple go, have fun, come back.”

All of the passengers in the van were adults, except for a little girl who is four years old. She is currently in stable condition at a nearby hospital.

When alerted about the incident Pastor Sereste Doresma told the AP, “This is a very difficult day for us today.”

Among the injured passengers, two were labeled as trauma alerts, two are unknown, and the rest are stable. One of the passengers has already been released.

Officials are still investigating as to what caused this horrific scene.

FSA Connection Questions

1. What was the purpose of the story?
2. What was the author’s opinion of the story?
3. Which sentence above summarizes the story?
4. What is the connotation of the word ‘contacted?’
5. What is the tone of the story?