PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — A 9-year-old boy from Atlantic Beach is dead and several others are seriously injured following a deadly crash in Putnam County Saturday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Troopers say a 44-year-old woman, also from Atlantic Beach, was driving an SUV on US Highway 17 near Poor Farm Road in Palatka around 6:50 a.m.
FHP says it was at this time when she failed to negotiate a left curve and exited the roadway onto the outside unpaved shoulder.
The front of the vehicle impacted an embankment resulting in the vehicle going airborne, FHP says.
Troopers say the vehicle landed near the tree line and overturned resulting in two juvenile occupants being ejected from the vehicle.
FHP says the car impacted several standing trees and came to final rest in the wood line facing south. The driver and two juvenile occupants, 13 and 11, were transported to various hospitals in serious condition.
The 9-year-old occupant was pronounced dead on scene, troopers say.
The 13-year-old was the only one wearing a seatbelt, the crash report indicates.