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Eight Irma Evacuees Injured In Escambia County Van Crash
September 11, 2017
Eight Hurricane Irma evacuees from Central Florida were injured in a single vehicle accident Sunday in Escambia County.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 44-year old Johnny Lamar Albritton, Jr. of Crystal River fell asleep at the wheel, causing the van he was driving to veer off the roadway on I-10 east of Davis Highway about 6:20 Sunday morning. The van struck a light pole, a concrete camera pole and then rolled over against a tree.
Albritton and seven passengers were transported to area hospitals with injuries. Six of those passengers were in the back of the van with no seat belts or seats. A dog in the van did not survive.
Albritton was charged with driving with a suspended license, careless driving and no child restraint for a child under 5-years old.
Photos for NorthEscamba.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
9 Responses to “Eight Irma Evacuees Injured In Escambia County Van Crash”
I know this family. Johnny was trying to get his family to a safe place . Fleeing from Hurricane Irma. He had his brother with him who is paralyzed. His mother past away not to long ago. Wouldn’t you want to save your family . I too would ride in the back of a truck to get away from a hurricane. God bless you all . Love you guys.
I know this family . They are good people who was trying to save themselves from the storm. Please don’t bash them. Accidents happen. Johnny was trying to save his family. God Bless you all !
My heart goes out to these folks like the other posts. It goes out to all rushing away from Hurricane Irma. They made it this far and Im willing to bet at that hour couldn’t find lodging so many places sold out. Wish I could help out too. Used to be a paramedic if Id been onscene I would not have left the hospital before getting theses folks some help at least a place to stay and some transportation. Will pray often for these folks and everyone now trying to go back home if there are homes left for some to return too. So sad…
That is just too sad. Is there any way any of us can help them? Hope they are not badly injured. So sorry this happened to them, and so sorry they lost their dog. :’(
I’ve been on the road trying to stay awake many times. The driver has my sympathy.
In the urgency of an evacuation, people help each other out, and give rides to people in need, even if they do not have enough seat belts. I am praying for all .
I can honestly say that my family wears are seat belts and child restraints correctly all the time, but having said that, in a emergency situation like an CAT 5 hurricane evaluation the proper safety equipment May Not be available. So if I were needing to get my family out and needed a ride, we would ride in the back of a dump truck, cargo van, road grader, you name it, if that meant getting to safety, seat belts or not!
Very sad for all involved, sad too about the dog not suriving. Grateful no other innocent people were injured.
This is awful! Prayers to all involved. And people please do not start with the negative comments about car restraints and suspended license. Lets be the caring people that we should be. Yes, the children should have been restrained-we all know that..but with the circumstances they were in (which we do not know). They have been through enough, lets not throw stones at this horrible time for them!