9 children, 1 adult killed in Alabama crash: 'The most horrific accident in Butler County history'

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, ABC News, but I couldn't get the station to come in.

News

9 children, 1 adult killed in Alabama crash: ‘The most horrific accident in Butler County history’

Updated Jun 20, 2021; Posted Jun 19, 2021

By Carol Robinson | [e-mail] and Jeremy Gray | [e-mail]

A crash on Interstate 65 in Butler County Saturday killed 10 people, nine of them ranging in age from 9-months-old to teenagers. ... Those killed were in a Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch vehicle and a small SUV, said Butler County Coroner Wayne Garlock. The vehicles involved in the crash were thought to have hydroplaned, officials said.

A father and 9-month-old girl were killed one vehicle and the other eight victims were in the Girls Ranch vehicle, Garlock said.

The victims in the SUV were identified as Cody Fox, 29, and Ariana Fox. They were travelling from Marion County, Tennessee. Garlock said it appeared Cody Fox worked for the emergency management agency in his home county. ... Cody Fox was pronounced dead on the scene; Ariana died at the Regional Medical Center in Greenville.

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The NTSB, in coordination with the Alabama Highway Patrol, is sending 10 investigators to conduct a safety investigation of the fatal June 19, 2021, multi-vehicle crash on I-65, in Butler County, Alabama.

Link to tweet

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9 children and one adult dead after pileup crash on I-65 in Butler County, Alabama
Nine children and one adult were killed.

WVTM Updated: 1:31 PM CDT Jun 20, 2021

BUTLER COUNTY, Ala. —UPDATE Sunday afternoon:

The Butler County Coroner said the horrific crash happened during a rain storm when a vehicle hydroplaned on the bridge near the 138 mile marker in northbound lanes of I-65.

This caused a chain reaction involving up to 15 vehicles. Since it was on a small bridge there was nowhere for the cars to go except forward into other vehicles,

A bus belonging to the Alabama Sheriff Youth Services caught fire in the crash. It was carrying 8 children from ages 4-17 and one adult, who was driving.

A bystander was able to pull the driver out to safety. Then he went back to try to rescue the children but the fire and smoke was too much and he could not help them. All the children perished at the scene.

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Anyone with photos or videos related to the crash is asked to submit those photos or videos to [e-mail] or share on Twitter @aleaprotects.

AL.com’s Leada Gore contributed to this report.

[Native]

1. I can't even imagine. This is so heartbreaking.

[FarPoint]

2. I would struggle being one of the first responders on this accident..

[Jilly_in_VA]

3. I could not

I just couldn't. I've worked a little ER and a lot of ICU, but I couldn't do that. One of my former Swamp Rats (my son's friends who inhabited our basement den when they were teens and up until son got married) is a paramedic with EMS. He has to be one of the mentally strongest people I know.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. This is the multi-car pileup on I-65 near Greenville that has the Interstate shut down.

This is the multi-car pileup on I-65 near Greenville that has the Interstate shut down. Drone photo from Chris Horn

Link to tweet

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. 'We need a lot of prayers': Grieving continues after horrific Alabama crash that killed 10

Montgomery Real-Time News

‘We need a lot of prayers’: Grieving continues after horrific Alabama crash that killed 10

Updated Jun 22, 2021; Posted Jun 21, 2021

By Carol Robinson | [e-mail]

The grief continues for those who lost loved ones in the horrific weekend crash on an Alabama interstate, but amid the heartbreak is hope and help.

“The community has embraced us more than we could ever ask for,’' Michael Smith, CEO for the Alabama Sheriff’s Youth Ranches, said Monday. “We need all the support we can get but, more than that, we need a lot of prayers.”

The crash happened about 2:30 p.m. Saturday on Interstate 65 northbound in Butler County. According to ALEA state troopers, a total of 17 vehicles were involved and seven of those caught fire, including the 2017 Ford 15-passenger ranch van driven by Candice Gulley, director of the Tallapoosa campus.

Gulley was pulled to safety and is hospitalized in Montgomery in serious but stable condition. Two of Gulley’s children, 16-year-old Isabella, and 3-year-old Ben, died in the crash. Gulley’s two nephews, Josiah Dunnavant, 12, and 8-year-old Nicholas Dunnavant, also were killed.

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