BELLE GLADE, Fla. (AP/WAVY) — Two siblings from Chesapeake were among the nine people who died after an overloaded SUV went out of control on a rural South Florida road, hit a guardrail and flipped upside down into a canal, authorities said.
The 2023 Ford Explorer was carrying four adults and six children and traveling south on Hatton Highway near Belle Glade at about 7:30 p.m. Monday when it came to a part of the two-lane road that briefly jogs west before again heading south, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.
Driver Pamela Wiggins, who would have turned 57 on Tuesday, failed to negotiate the turn and went off the road, the office said. The overloaded SUV hit a guardrail before flipping into the canal, which runs parallel to the road.
Five-year-old Ya’sire Smith and three-year-old Zi’are Mack were in Florida on vacation when the crash happened. Authorities had said that several young children were among the nine people who died, and another person was seriously injured.
Four people were pronounced dead at the scene, while five died at the hospital. In addition to Wiggins, the dead were identified as Leiana Alyse Hall, 30; Anyia Monique Lee Tucker, 21; Michael Anthony Hall Jr., 14; Imani Andre Ajani Hall, 8; Kamdien Edwards, 5; Yasire Smith, 5; Ziaire Mack, 3; and Naleia Tucker, 1. Jorden Rickey Hall, 26, was rescued and was said to be in serious condition.
“This is kind of the worst thing that we have ever experienced, especially for my sister,” said the children’s aunt, Nashawn Smiley. “She’s going through the worst pain that anyone, you know, can even imagine.”
Ya’sire and Zi’aire were brothers — in every sense of the word.
“They loved each other,” Smiley said. “Of course, you know siblings, they played, sometimes they’d fight, but they loved each other.”
At five and three-years-old, they were too young to know anything about tragedy.
“They were so smart, they were energetic, they were loving, they were everything,” Smiley said. “They are everything.”
They’re being held in Florida for now, but the family wants to be united. They started a GoFundMe account to make it possible to bring them home and say goodbye one more time.
“So that we can bring them home and they can have a proper ceremony off,” Smiley said. “To have them here where they were loved, where their village is.”
WPTV, the NBC affiliate in West Palm Beach, Florida, had initially reported that 3-year-old Ziaire Mack from Chesapeake was among the deceased.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Capt. Tom Reyes told reporters that when crews arrived, the SUV was upside-down and partially underwater.
“I’ve been with the department for 20 years, and this is one of the most difficult scenes I’ve been on,” Reyes said.
If you would like to help, you can donate to their fundraiser here.
Patrice Wiggins, Pamela Wiggins’ daughter, set up an online fundraiser to help with funeral expenses.
“Lord Please Wake me up from this Nightmare… Lord I know you make no mistakes but Lord I’m having a hard time processing this one,” she posted earlier on Facebook.
Several victims from Bridgeport, Connecticut, were related to a person who works as a school custodian there.
Superintendent Carmela Levy-David released a statement extending the district’s sympathies to the worker, whom it did not identify.
“Together, as a community, we stand with our colleague, offering our prayers, support and love,” Levy-David said.
According to Ford dealership websites, 2023 Explorers have a maximum capacity of seven. The crash report said none of the occupants were wearing seat belts or using child restraints.
Belle Glade is a farming community just south of Lake Okeechobee and about 45 miles (70 kilometers) west of West Palm Beach.
