A Tennessee father and his infant daughter were among 10 people – nine of whom were children – killed in a fiery multi-vehicle crash on an Alabama highway this weekend.Cody Fox, 29, of New Hope, Tennessee, and his 9-month-old daughter were identified in a press release issued by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency on Sunday night.The other victims in the crash were children aged between 3 and 17, who were traveling in a vehicle belonging to a ranch for neglected or abused school-age children, authoritie
The National Transportation Safety Board sent 10 investigators to the scene in Butler County to work in coordination with the Alabama Highway Patrol, the agency said. The “investigation will focus on vehicle technologies such as forward collision warning systems, CMV fuel tank integrity, motor carrier operations and occupant survivability,” according to the NTSB.’
Heavy rain fell across the Southeast on Saturday after a tropical depression that had been known as Tropical Storm Claudette came ashore in southeastern Louisiana early that morning.
The bus crash happened as storms swept through Alabama, according to Butler County Coroner Wayne Garlock.
At least 17 vehicles, including two commercial vehicles, were involved in the incident on I-65 northbound at mile marker 138, according to the ALEA release.
Fox was a member of the emergency management agency in Marion County, Tennessee.
“Cody was an integral part of the EMA staff in Marion County, always ready, always willing to serve,” a posting on the agency’s Facebook page said. “
“His upbeat attitude, his willingness to learn, and without a doubt the politest young man I have ever known, will be greatly missed. I offer my deepest prayers for his parents and family.
“He was a dedicated responder, a good son, a good brother, a good father and a good friend.”
Fox was also the chief of the New Hope Volunteer Fire Department in Tennessee,
Of the nine children killed in the crash, eight were in a vehicle from the Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch, according to Garlock.
The ranch provides a home for neglected or abused school-age children, according to the Alabama Sheriffs Youth Ranches, the nonprofit that manages the ranch and others across the state.
The ranch’s director was the driver of the van and survived, according to the Youth Ranches CEO Michael Smith, but she lost two children of her own in the crash, he told CNN. The director is in hospital “in serious but stable condition,” Smith said.
She was likely saved by bystanders who pulled her from the vehicle while she was unconscious and trapped inside, Smith said.
“Her life was saved, and we’re so blessed with that,” he said. “Unfortunately we lost the other eight passengers.”
“We lost eight young people that can make a difference in our world, we lost eight young people that didn’t have a chance to have their own children, we lost eight young people that can’t break the cycle of where they’ve been and change it for their children,” Smith said. “That’s a sad day.”
The victims were aged 3, 8, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17, according to ALEA, with two of the victims aged 16. The names of the children have not been released.
Lacey Willis, a CNN producer, was caught in the pile-up as she returned to Atlanta from a family beach trip in Destin, Florida, with her husband and their 6-month-old daughter.
She said the weather had been bad about an hour prior to the crash. At the moment of the wreck “it wasn’t downpouring” but there was still a lot of water on the road, Willis told CNN,
Willis was in the backseat of the car with her daughter when she felt an impact, she said. Their car had hit a guard rail, setting off the airbags and sending them into the grass on the median.
She grabbed her daughter and began walking away from the accident when she noticed vehicles had started to catch fire.
“I’m barefoot, standing on I-65, walking, walking far enough away,” she said. “I was just
CNN’s Keith Allen, Hollie Silverman, Chuck Johnston and Deanna Hackney contributed to this report from Atlanta, with Greg Clary in Washington, DC, and Martin Savidge and Devon Sayers reporting from Camp Hill, Alabama.
Tennessee father and his infant daughter were among 10 people – nine of whom were children – killed in a fiery multi-vehicle crash on an Alabama highway this weekend.Cody Fox, 29, of New Hope, Tennessee, and his 9-month-old daughter were identified in a press release issued by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency on Sunday night.The other victims in the crash were children aged between 3 and 17, who were traveling in a vehicle belonging to a ranch for neglected or abused school-age children, authoritie
The National Transportation Safety Board sent 10 investigators to the scene in Butler County to work in coordination with the Alabama Highway Patrol, the agency said. The “investigation will focus on vehicle technologies such as forward collision warning systems, CMV fuel tank integrity, motor carrier operations and occupant survivability,” according to the NTSB.’
Heavy rain fell across the Southeast on Saturday after a tropical depression that had been known as Tropical Storm Claudette came ashore in southeastern Louisiana early that morning.
The bus crash happened as storms swept through Alabama, according to Butler County Coroner Wayne Garlock.
At least 17 vehicles, including two commercial vehicles, were involved in the incident on I-65 northbound at mile marker 138, according to the ALEA release.
Fox was a member of the emergency management agency in Marion County, Tennessee.
“Cody was an integral part of the EMA staff in Marion County, always ready, always willing to serve,” a posting on the agency’s Facebook page said. “
“His upbeat attitude, his willingness to learn, and without a doubt the politest young man I have ever known, will be greatly missed. I offer my deepest prayers for his parents and family.
“He was a dedicated responder, a good son, a good brother, a good father and a good friend.”
Fox was also the chief of the New Hope Volunteer Fire Department in Tennessee,
Of the nine children killed in the crash, eight were in a vehicle from the Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch, according to Garlock.
The ranch provides a home for neglected or abused school-age children, according to the Alabama Sheriffs Youth Ranches, the nonprofit that manages the ranch and others across the state.
The ranch’s director was the driver of the van and survived, according to the Youth Ranches CEO Michael Smith, but she lost two children of her own in the crash, he told CNN. The director is in hospital “in serious but stable condition,” Smith said.
She was likely saved by bystanders who pulled her from the vehicle while she was unconscious and trapped inside, Smith said.
“Her life was saved, and we’re so blessed with that,” he said. “Unfortunately we lost the other eight passengers.”
“We lost eight young people that can make a difference in our world, we lost eight young people that didn’t have a chance to have their own children, we lost eight young people that can’t break the cycle of where they’ve been and change it for their children,” Smith said. “That’s a sad day.”
The victims were aged 3, 8, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17, according to ALEA, with two of the victims aged 16. The names of the children have not been released.
Lacey Willis, a CNN producer, was caught in the pile-up as she returned to Atlanta from a family beach trip in Destin, Florida, with her husband and their 6-month-old daughter.
She said the weather had been bad about an hour prior to the crash. At the moment of the wreck “it wasn’t downpouring” but there was still a lot of water on the road, Willis told CNN,
Willis was in the backseat of the car with her daughter when she felt an impact, she said. Their car had hit a guard rail, setting off the airbags and sending them into the grass on the median.
She grabbed her daughter and began walking away from the accident when she noticed vehicles had started to catch fire.
“I’m barefoot, standing on I-65, walking, walking far enough away,” she said. “I was just
CNN’s Keith Allen, Hollie Silverman, Chuck Johnston and Deanna Hackney contributed to this report from Atlanta, with Greg Clary in Washington, DC, and Martin Savidge and Devon Sayers reporting from Camp Hill, Alabama.
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