According to law enforcement and school officials, a catastrophic car collision in the Panhandle killed three Massachusetts high school seniors and badly injured one.
The Florida Highway Patrol reported that on April 21, an SUV carrying four 18-year-old Concord-Carlisle High School students collided with a tractor-trailer doing a U-turn in the paved median of U.S. 98 in Walton County.
The driver and one passenger were pronounced deceased at the scene, according to the FHP. The other two passengers were taken to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries, and one died the next day, according to school officials.
According to the FHP, the students were driving westbound in an SUV on Highway 98 in Inlet Beach, about a mile west of South Watersound Parkway, when they collided with a tractor-trailer doing a U-turn in the median.
The SUV was tossed over the middle and both eastbound lanes before coming to a stop near a wooded tree line.
The SUV’s driver, Jimmy McIntosh, and a front-seat passenger, Hannah Wasserman, were pronounced dead at the site. The other two passengers were taken to Ascension Sacred Heart Bay Hospital in Panama City in critical condition.
McIntosh was wearing a seatbelt, according to the accident report.
The tractor-trailer’s occupants, a 19-year-old driver from DeFuniak Springs and a 23-year-old passenger from Panama City Beach, were unharmed, according to the FHP.
The FHP stated that the crash is still under investigation.
Who died in the Walton County, Florida, wreck?
According to Concord-Carlisle Regional School District Superintendent Dr. Laurie Hunter, the two people who died at the site were Concord-Carlisle High School seniors Jimmy McIntosh and Hannah Wasserman, respectively.
“We extend our heartfelt sympathies to Hannah and Jimmy’s families and friends during this difficult time. “Our school community, as well as so many families in Carlisle and Concord, will be deeply saddened by their loss,” Hunter stated. “We are also keeping the other two students in our thoughts and wish them strength and a swift recovery.”
Concord-Carlisle High School Co-Principal Katie Stahl identified Lauren Costa and Maisey O’Donnell as the two students injured in the crash in a statement to parents, teachers, and students.
Hunter revealed the following day that O’Donnell had also died.
“It is with great sadness that I provide new facts regarding the fatal car accident in Florida. Maisey O’Donnell, a third CCHS senior, died away this afternoon. Maisey is in the organ donation program because her family believes it will give meaning to these senseless tragedies,” Hunter said.
Concord, Massachusetts, where the school is located, is approximately 25 miles northwest of Boston.