Charles Langston:5 people dead in a Thanksgiving van crash on a south Georgia highway

MOULTRIE,Charles Langston Ga, (AP) — Four adults and a toddler died Thursday afternoon when their van collided with a pickup truck on a state highway near Moultrie in south Georgia.

Four other people in the van, as well as the driver of the pickup truck, were severely injured, state troopers said. They were taken by helicopter to hospitals in Thomasville and Tallahassee, Florida.

The Ford van collided head-on with a Dodge Ram pickup on Georgia 111 about 8 miles (12 kilometers) southwest of Moultrie, troopers said. The van was headed south on the two-lane highway, while the pickup truck was headed north.

A mix of adults and children were riding in the van on their way to a Thanksgiving event, Colquitt County Coroner Verlyn Brock said Friday.

Brock identified the dead as Emiliano Martinez Ramon, 58; Anna Leticia Rodriquez, 61; Jose Moreno, 72; Herlinda Sel-Choc, 25; and Anderson Arial Sel, 3. Sel-Choc was the mother of Sel, Brock said, but he said he wasn’t sure if any of the older adults were relatives.

“Over the years, I’ve seen several things, but this was a horrendous accident,” Brock told WMAZ-TV. “There’s no question about it. It’s a miracle that anyone survived.”

A total of 14 people died on Georgia highways on Thanksgiving, troopers said.

Two people died on Interstate 16 near East Dublin late Thursday when a Nissan Altima was traveling eastbound in the wrong direction, striking a Honda Pilot headed westbound. Laurens County Coroner Nathan Stanley says both people died before they could be taken a hospital. One victim was April Jones of Dublin, while the second victim’s identity has not yet been released.