VENICE, Fla. — A crash early Tuesday morning has left multiple people dead and shut down a road in unincorporated Venice, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office said.
It reportedly happened just after 3:30 a.m. on River Road near West Villages Parkway. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a car with two people inside was going south on River Road (SR-777), south of West Villages Parkway. A second car, driven by a 64-year-old woman from North Port, was going north on River Road.
Troopers say the driver of the southbound car crossed the center line and entered the northbound lane in front of the 64-year-old driver.
The two cars collided head-on. After the collision, the car carrying two people caught fire while the other car overturned.
Both the driver and passenger of the southbound car died at the crash site. Troopers said they are still working on identifying those killed.
The 64-year-old woman was seriously hurt and rushed to the hospital by ambulance for further treatment.
Few details are available about what caused the crash.
A portion of River Road was closed for several hours but has since reopened.
