Eight people, including a man, a woman, and six children, were traveling in a red Toyota Camry close to exit 24 on I-24 West in Robertson County, Tennessee, when the car suddenly veered off the road and overturned onto the shoulder.
The force of the crash caused the six girls and the woman to be ejected from the vehicle, which was discovered upside down with significant damage.
A pickup truck nearby was reported to have collided with a concrete barrier, though authorities are still unsure if the two vehicles influenced each other or if the driver of the truck reacted to the crash and accidentally hit the barrier. The driver of the pickup was able to walk away from the incident.
The woman was airlifted to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the man was driven to the Skyline Medical Center in Nashville. The woman is in a critical condition and the man suffered minor injuries.
Sadly, all six of the children were pronounced dead at the scene, with five of them being under the age of 10 and one being a 1-year-old infant. The identities of those involved had not been released at the time of writing.
Four ambulances, along with members of Robertson County EMS, Cheatham County EMS, Pleasant View Volunteer Fire Department, and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), responded to the crash site.
Robertson County EMS Director Brent Dyer commented on the difficult scene with the statement, “Our office recognizes the incredible difficulty of this scene.” Robertson County Emergency Medical Services is providing professional mental health and counseling services to the first responders of the crash.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol is actively investigating the incident. The last words of the statement from Robertson County Emergency Medical Services were, “Please keep the families and persons involved in your thoughts and prayers.”
This tragedy follows the devastating car accident in New York earlier this month which resulted in the death of five children. The Nissan Rogue that was driven by a 16-year-old young man veered off the road and then crashed into a tree in Scarsdale, New York.