2 dead in Interstate 75 crash in South Florida

Author: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published:
MGN

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (AP) – A recent graduate of American Heritage High School and a 29-year-old man were killed in a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 75 late Thursday near Pembroke Pines.

The Florida Highway Patrol said a flatbed tractor-trailer hauling temporary concrete barriers on a portion of the road that is under construction was leaving the highway’s median when it was struck by Mitsubishi driven by Jonathan Raymond Astaphan of Miramar around 11:30 p.m.

Sgt. Mark Wysocky said the Mitsubishi struck the truck and continued under the trailer, which tore off the roof. The vehicle came to rest some 800 feet down the road.

The BMW driven by Liza Angulo, 17, of Miramar struck the flatbed truck, causing some of the concrete to fall on top of the car. A second tractor-trailer then ran into the crashed vehicles.

Angulo and Astaphan died at the scene, troopers said. The truck drivers were not injured, but a passenger in Astaphan’s vehicle, Patricia Rolle, 25, of Davie, was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

The southbound lanes of I-75 remained closed throughout the night. All lanes reopened to traffic about 8:30 a.m. Friday, Wysocky said.

“Liza was an intelligent and caring young lady with a bright future ahead of her,” American Heritage principal Elise Blum said in statement released Friday. “My heart goes out to her family as they process this unbearable tragedy. My thoughts are also with the Class of 2015 as they learn of this shocking loss of their classmate and friend.

Troopers are investigating the crash.

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