MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Five people are dead after a wrong-way crash on the Palmetto Expressway Saturday morning.
The crash happened just after 4:30 a.m. along the Palmetto and Northwest 57th Avenue.
Officials said a man driving a silver Infiniti was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes when he crashed into a gray Honda sedan with four women and one man. None of them survived.
The Florida Highway Patrol later identified the driver as 30-year-old Maiky Simeon.
“About 4:31 a.m., we received a call of a car accident on the 826 and 57th Avenue. (We) found two cars crashed and multiple injuries and unfortunately a few deaths,” according to Marc Chavers, division chief of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue who spoke to Local 10 News at the scene.
Saturday morning report:
Chavers said crews had to use the “Jaws of Life” to get the trapped driver out of the Infiniti. Simeon was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center with serious injuries.
While the incident is in the early stages of the investigation, Chavers said moments before the crash police had received a call about a car driving the wrong way.
Officials have not yet publicly identified the five victims who died. They were between the ages of 18 and 25 years old.
FHP investigators are seeking information on Simeon’s whereabouts prior to the crash. Anyone with information is asked to call 305-470-2500.
Editor’s note: The Florida Highway Patrol initially identified the victims as five females. The agency later corrected its preliminary report to state that the victims were four women and one man.