2 dead, 3 seriously injured after crash on Alligator Alley

Five people from North Fort Myers were involved in a crash on Alligator Alley in Broward County that killed two of them and left three more in serious condition late Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, an SUV driven by a 47-year-old woman was traveling west in the outside lane of Alligator Alley, near mile marker 28, around 5:30 p.m. The left rear tire of the SUV blew out and the driver lost control. The SUV entered the north grass shoulder, collided with a barbed wire fence, small trees and bushes and went into a canal, where it came to rest, submerged.

Multiple good Samaritans entered the canal to help pull out the driver and her passengers: a 22-year-old woman, a 40-year-old woman, and a young boy and girl, both 2 years old.

“They were screaming, ‘help, help, help,” said Charlie Cheng, a good Samaritan who saw the crash unfold. “I just jumped in … I didn’t think about the gators or nothing like that. I just did it.”

Cheng and others did CPR on the two women but it wasn’t enough to save the driver and 22-year-old woman. They were transported to Broward Health, where they were pronounced dead.

The other three passengers remain in serious condition.

“Now you know you potentially have a motherless child now. It’s a terrible situation,” said Michael Kane, battalion chief for Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue.

Kane’s team got to the crash within minutes.

“We were there very quickly in fact,” Kane said. “Unfortunately, not quick enough. The two victims that did not survive happened to be underwater for an extended period of time.”

“It doesn’t always end up in a fatality but we do get confirmed vehicle in canal calls at least monthly. It’s quite busy,” he added.

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