All lanes of I-75 open after deadly crash in Marion County

MARION COUNTY, Fla. – One person was killed and another seriously injured in a crash that had Interstate 75 closed near the Marion and Alachua county line on Saturday afternoon, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The crash was reported in the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 near mile marker 372 around 4:47 p.m., according to the FHP.

Troopers said a van, being driven by a 57-year-old Jacksonville woman, was traveling southbound on Interstate 75 in the center lane, approaching mile marker 372.

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At the same time, a heavy duty truck that was hauling vehicles and being driven by a 36-year-old Tampa man was traveling southbound on Interstate 75, approaching mile marker 372 in the right outside lane.

According to a crash report, the van attempted to change lanes from the middle lane to the right outside lane as the truck “was incoming.”

The van’s right side crashed into the truck’s left front, troopers said.

As a result, both vehicles began to rotate and entered the right grassy shoulder where they both overturned and collided with “multiple trees,” according to the report.

The driver of the van was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the truck was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries.

The right southbound lanes are blocked near the scene, according to FL 511.

Note: The FHP earlier reported that two people were killed in the van, but later said there was only one person – the sole occupant in the van – who died. Additionally, what was initially described to us as a pickup truck was later clarified by troopers to be a “heavy duty truck hauling vehicles.”

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