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Troopers: 1-month-old sitting on woman’s lap dies after Turnpike crash involving semitruck

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — A 1-month-old infant sitting on a woman’s lap died after being ejected from a car following a crash involving a semitruck on Florida’s Turnpike on Thursday, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Just after 6:30 a.m., troopers said the crash happened in the southbound lanes on Florida’s Turnpike in Osceola County.

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Troopers said a 38-year-old Los Angeles, California, man, crashed into a semitruck that was stopped in the southbound lanes due to a prior crash. Investigators said the infant was sitting on a passenger’s lap when the baby was ejected from the car and died on scene.

The woman passenger, who troopers said was also not wearing a seatbelt, suffered critical injuries. The man driving the car was wearing a seatbelt and suffered serious injures.

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Troopers said the first crash happened in the southbound lanes on Florida’s Turnpike just before 5 a.m.

A semi-truck lost control, struck a guardrail and caught fire, according to troopers.

Troopers said traffic that was stuck behind the semi fire was being diverted when the fatal crash happened.

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Check back and watch Eyewitness News for live updates.

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Katlyn Brieskorn, WFTV.com

Katlyn Brieskorn is a Digital Assignment Editor at WFTV. She joined Channel 9 in July 2019.

Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.