Three dead, three injured after crash on Florida Turnpike involving Fed-Ex semi-truck

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - A deadly crash shut down the southbound lanes of the Florida Turnpike in Osceola County on Tuesday morning. 50 miles of on-ramps are shut down on the Florida Turnpike near State Road 60. The turnpike has since re-opened.

The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) confirmed that there was a fatal crash on the southbound lanes of the Florida Turnpike, near Kenansville, at approximately 12:40 a.m. The crash involved two vehicles and a Fed-Ex semi-truck with a double trailer.

They say that preliminary information in this investigation shows that a 2003 Mitsubishi four-door vehicle had a flat tire and continued to travel in the right lane at a very low speed. A Ford Explorer was traveling with the Mitsubishi and was directly behind it, also traveling at a very low speed. A Fed-Ex Semi then approached the rear of the vehicle at a normal speed and did not realize the vehicles were traveling slow. The front of the Fed-Ex Semi struck the rear of the Ford Explorer and then the rear of the Mitsubishi. The semi then jackknifed.

The three occupants of the Ford Explorer were said to have been pronounced dead on scene. Three others from the Ford Explorer were transported to the hospital. The driver of the Mitsubishi and the driver of the Fed-Ex semi received minor injuries and were not transported.