Five teens were killed, and three others injured, after a vehicle fell from an elevated ramp onto Interstate 85 near Atlanta early in the morning on Labor Day.
According to a press release from Gwinnett County officials, just before 4 a.m. Monday police received a 911 call reporting that a vehicle had gone “over the wall of the raised ramp” and had fallen onto I-85 near Pleasant Hill Rd in Duluth, Georgia.
The three-vehicle collision occurred just before 4 am on Monday morning on a ramp to the southbound lanes of Interstate 85 in Gwinnett County, Georgia. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
When emergency personnel responded, they found identified five deceased victims and another three victims who sustained injuries, the release stated. The injured were transported to local hospitals.
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In a follow-up press release, officials identified the victims as 17-year-old Katy Gaitan, 16-year-old Ashley Gaitan, 17-year-old Coral Lorenzo, 18-year-old Hung Nguyen and 19-year-old Abner Santana.
The collision caused a vehicle to flip over a wall of the elevated ramp, falling onto traffic lanes. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
Three of the victims attended the local Lakeside High School together in DeKalb County, police said.
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In their preliminary investigation, police have determined that two of the involved vehicles crashed, which resulted in one of the vehicles flying over the wall of the ramp and onto the interstate below where it was then hit by another vehicle, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.
Katy Gaitan, Ashley Gaitan, Coral Lorenzo, Hung Nguyen, and Abner Santana were pronounced dead at the scene (FOX 5 Atlanta)
Following the crash, police said that the busy interstate remained close of the SR 316 WB ramps to I85 SB and Pleasant Hill Rd, along with the I85 SB Collector Distributor to Pleasant Hill Rd.
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Police are investigating the circumstances of the initial collision and encouraged witnesses to contact Gwinnett County Police Department at pdaccidentinvestigationunit@gwinnettcounty.com, or 678-442-5653.
