ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. -- Florida Highway Patrol troopers have released the names of five kids and two adults were killed in a fiery crash Thursday on Interstate 75 west of Gainesville.
The children were riding in a large passenger van from a United Pentecostal Church in Marksville, Louisiana. The vehicle was carrying a total of nine kids and three adults. Those adults survived. Five children, including the church pastor's granddaughter, did not.
The children killed were Joel Cloud, 14; Jeremiah Warren, 14; Cierra Bordelan, 9; Cara Descant, 13; and Briana Descant, 10.
The driver of the van, Amy Joffiron, 30, of Marksville, La., remains in serious condition, as do passengers Karen Descant, 50, an 11-year-old boy, a 9-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy.
The two adults who were killed in the crash were semi drivers Steve Holland, 59, of West Palm Beach and Douglas Bolkema, 49, of Albuquerque, N.M.
A driver of another vehicle, 41-year-old Robyn Rattray, 41, of Gainesville, is also in serious condition.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, for unknown reasons, the semi driven by Holland entered the path of the 2007 Honda 5-door vehicle driven by Rattray on northbound I-75.
Both vehicles went into the median, through the guardrail and into the southbound lanes of I-75. The semi hit the church van, causing it to roll over and eject an unknown number of occupants, according to FHP.
One of the van occupants was struck by another vehicle, investigators said.
The semi then went on to hit the other semi driven by Bolkema. Both trucks caught fire.
Diesel fuel spilled across the roadway, fueling flames.
One of the adults injured, the church pastor's wife, "is pretty banged up" with seven broken ribs, a broken collarbone and other injuries, according to church staff. Another adult woman was pregnant, the church said.
(A previous version of this story stated that the woman had given birth at the hospital. The Louisiana District of United Pentecostal Church corrected its original statement to say she remains hospitalized and is still pregnant.)
"Please pray for the healing of those physical injuries," reads a note from church officials to members. "And, perhaps even more so, pray for that church family that has been so massively affected by this tragedy."
At first, investigators said there were six people killed in the crash, but that number later climbed to seven.
Walt Disney World officials expressed their sympathies to the families of the seven victims, including the five children headed to the park.
Spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler said Friday that "there are no words to convey the sorrow we feel for those involved."
Holland was ticketed between 2000 and 2014 in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Virginia for violations including speeding, driving an unsafe vehicle, driving an overloaded vehicle and not carrying proof of insurance.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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