1 child dead, 11 hurt in Orlando-area day care center crash

WINTER PARK, Fla. (AP) — A vehicle crashed into a day care in an Orlando-area day care Wednesday, killing one child and injuring a dozen people, 11 of them children, a Florida Highway Patrol official said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office reports Florida Highway Patrol troopers found the vehicle believed to be involved.

Several were reported to be “very, very serious condition,” said highway patrol spokeswoman Wanda Diaz. The injured include 11 children and one adult.

“This is a very fluid situation and we need as much as help as possible,” FHP spokeswoman Wanda Diaz said.

Diaz said a silver or grayish Dodge Durango crashed into a vehicle that then struck the KinderCare building in Winter Park. The Durango then left.

The vehicle is believed to have damage to the front bumper. Anyone with information is urged to call the patrol at 407-737-2300 or 911.

“Please keep a look out and let us know if you see anything,” said Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said.

Jacobs called the crash an “absolute tragedy and disaster.”

Local television footage showed small children and infants in cribs taken outside on the day care’s playground and several of the injured were carried out on stretchers.

The highway patrol reported that the injured were taken to five different hospitals.

A woman who answered the phone at KinderCare said she didn’t have time to talk.