DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – A 16-year-old girl was killed and two others were seriously injured when two cars crashed and caught fire Monday on Interstate 95 in Deerfield Beach.
The fatal crash happened just before 8 a.m. in the northbound lanes, just south of Southwest 10th Street.
Alvaro Feola, a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol, said a Mazda was traveling north on the highway when the driver lost control and struck several construction warning barrels and a metal guardrail and eventually slammed into a Mitsubishi Galant that was parked on the shoulder. The impact caused the Galant to burst into flames, killing the driver, Xiomara Permenter, of Pompano Beach.
Bystanders were able to pull the driver of the Mazda, who was not identified, out of the vehicle.
Paramedics transported the driver to Broward Health Medical Center. His condition was not disclosed.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.
Permenter's neighbor, Ernest Joseph, told Local 10 News reporter Neki Mohan that his heart broke when he heared about the crash.
"Very nice. Very nice," he said. "She's very nice and independent, you know. I never hear anything bad. She's quiet."
Permenter was a junior at Deerfield Beach High School, where students are still shocked about her death.
"She had my math class. Real smart. She was real smart," student Alfonso Morgan said.
Another crash Monday, on the opposite end of the county, blocked southbound traffic on I-95.
Kane said six vehicles, including two tractor-trailers, were involved in the crash near the Pembroke Road exit.