Four people from the tri-state were killed and three others were seriously injured when they crashed their SUV in South Carolina while on a trip to visit family in Florida, officials say.
Sumter County Coroner Harvin Bullock says Juan Escoboza Sr., Maria Tapia and Luis Alberto Tapia, all of Brooklyn, and Clarabel Montero of Augusta, New Jersey, were killed in the wreck early Tuesday on the interstate just outside Sumter.
Bullock said Escoboza was driving the Honda Pilot south on the highway at about 6:15 a.m. when it ran off the left side of the road. Escoboza overcorrected, coming back across the roadway, and hit a tree in the median.
Escoboza was pronounced dead at the scene, along with Maria Tapia, Luis Alberto Tapia and Montero, who were all sitting in the vehicle’s middle row.
Bullock said Escoboza’s wife, who was sitting in the front passenger’s seat, broke her hand and was taken to the hospital. Two of the other passengers were airlifted to hospitals as well.
It’s not clear if wet road conditions played a role in the crash, but Bullock said there was heavy fog, rain and traffic at the time. The South was hit with severe storms Tuesday that were blamed for four deaths in Mississippi.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol said its accident investigation team is looking into the crash.
