A single-vehicle rollover crash on U.S. Highway 192 in St. Cloud sent a woman and eight children to the hospital Wednesday morning.
The crash happened around 7 a.m., shutting down U.S. 192 in both directions for over an hour from Narcoossee Road to Nova Road. All lanes reopened around 9:45 a.m. after investigators towed the crashed van from the scene.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 31-year-old Elizabeth Ann Sites was driving a van with eight children inside, when for some reason, she started driving onto the grass shoulder.
Troopers said Sites overcorrected, and the van ended up overturning numerous times on the roadway and in the center grass median.
Several of the children were ejected from the van. All eight were transported to area hospitals, including four who were flown Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. Sites was flown to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition.
The family was on the way to Southland Christian School in Kissimmee. Students there prayed for their peers.
"If they are in the hospital that they can get healed and stuff so that they can get a little bit better," said fourth grader Angelle Herrera.
Administrators at the school said their pastor is with the family as they travel to the different hospitals the mother and the children were sent to. No word yet on how the mother or any of the children are doing.
Caesar Collier said he heard the crash and, while shocked, he was not surprised it happened, because that stretch of U.S. 192 is always busy.
"It's always sad to see someone hurt," Collier said. "It's always best just to drive for others, especially on this road. People are always doing 80 or 90 here."
The posted speed limit on U.S. 192 in St. Cloud ranges from 35–55 mph.
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(Sky 13)