A 17-year-old boy from Lake Wales is dead and seven other teenagers are injured after a fatal crash on Interstate 4 westbound in Orange County early Sunday morning, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
An 18-year-old man from Bartow was driving a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer on I-4 at mile marker 66 in the inside lane, FHP said. At approximately 3:30 a.m., the vehicle’s right rear tire blew out.
FHP said this caused the vehicle to overturn several times onto the left shoulder and onto the median guardrail. The Lake Wales boy was ejected onto the eastbound center lane of I-4.
Subsequently, a 2017 Lexus CT, driven by a 34-year-old man from Sanford, was traveling eastbound on I-4 in the center lane, FHP said. As a result, the sedan struck the teenager that was ejected from the Trailblazer.
The Bartow man and six passengers in the Trailblazers were transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center, FHP said. The ejected teenager was transported to Osceola Regional Medical Center and was pronounced dead. The Sanford man and vehicle passenger were not injured and remained on-scene.
This crash remains under investigation.