OCALA, Fla. — More than -three dozen young children, including some infants, narrowly escaped being struck by an SUV as it crashed into their Ocala day care on Wednesday.
Investigators told Channel 9's Berndt Petersen the crash happened at the Children's Palace on Southeast 36th Avenue.
Two teachers at the day care said they saw the truck coming and they raced into the front room split seconds before impact to rescue two babies who were sleeping.
"It clicked in my mind that the babies were right there," said worker Patrice Hopkins. "And as I saw the car coming, I just came in and got that baby and exited outside the door, because I saw the other teacher get the other baby. I didn't have to worry about him. I just worried about the little baby inside the swing set."
In all, there were 40 children and several teachers in the building when the crash happened about 10 a.m.
"It's scary. I cried. It was very scary," said witness Alyce Alexander.
Ocala police said the driver of the vehicle might have had a medical problem that led to the crash. She suffered minor injuries.
No other injuries were reported.
The day care hopes to reopen by Monday.
WFTV
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