The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) released the names of the five children and two truckers who died Thursday from a fiery wreck that involved two semi-trucks and two passenger vehicles on I-75 near Gainesville.
The child victims were identified as Joel Cloud, 14, Jeremiah Warren, 14, Cierra Bordelan, 9, Cara Descant, 13, and Brieana Descant, 10. They were all from Marksville, Louisiana, traveling in a passenger vehicle heading to Disney World, authorities said.
FHP says the children may not have been wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.
A friend of Warren's said he and the rest of the community in Louisiana are devastated.
"I didn't believe that it had happened," he said, "I cried a little bit."
Shawn Chenevert Davis, a member of Avoyelles House of Mercy in Marksville, Louisiana, shared a photo of the children who died in the crash on her Facebook page. She also said they attended the same church.
The Louisiana church has asked for prayers.
"Lord, I ask you to dispatch your healing angels and your healing powers," one woman said.
The two adults killed were identified to be the two semi-truck drivers involved in the crash: 59-year-old Steve Holland from West Palm Beach, Florida and 49-year-old Douglas Bolkema from Albuquerque.
The crash happened around 3:40 p.m. at Mile Marker 394. FHP said a semi-truck was traveling northbound on I-75 and crashed into another vehicle. Both the semi-truck and vehicle collided through the guardrail, into the median and into the southbound lanes of I-75 where another semi-truck and the passenger van were traveling.
FHP said a passenger van overturned and ejected some occupants.
Both of the semi-trucks involved in the crash caught on fire. Alachua County Fire Rescue said nearly 50 gallons of diesel fuel spilled, igniting boxes and packages of meat that fell out of the truck.
Seven more victims remain in serious condition. The pastor's wife is in critical condition with broken ribs and a broken collarbone. One injured woman from the van was reported by the church to be pregnant. Her pregnancy is still viable, the church said, and her unborn child is expected to be OK.
FHP said one other driver was involved in the crash and struck one of the victims who was ejected. That driver didn't sustain any injuries.