According to the Seminole police, individuals traveling in a 2nd motor vehicle had stopped for assistance when a 3rd motor hit them.

3 individuals died and 8 sustained injuries in an accident that occurred after a motorist in a Cadillac Escalade struck a bear and stopped along a two-lane road in the Florida Everglades.

Seminole police spokesman Gary Bitner told the Associated Press that individuals riding in a second vehicle on Sunday evening had stopped to assist when a third vehicle hit them. The bear also died in the accident.

Bitner told, “Three people from a second vehicle got out and tried to help and all were struck and killed by a third vehicle”.

On Sunday, the first vehicle hit the bear at about 7 pm.

Bitner added, “We’ve never had an accident involving a black bear. There are black bears throughout Florida and this is in the Everglades, so there absolutely are black bears in that area”.

The Broward sheriff’s office sent crews for assistance. According to an official, 4 individuals who sustained life-threatening injuries were rushed to a hospital in Fort Lauderdale by air. 4 individuals with non-life-threatening injuries were rushed by ambulance. They also told that some of the victims were children.

According to Bitner, identities of those involved in the accident and the extent of their injuries weren’t immediately available. He said accident reconstruction experts were on the accident spot late Sunday. He said at least 2 of the motor vehicles were going in opposite directions.

He told, “They are still trying to figure everything out”.

Bitner told that the accident occurred on the approximately 50,000-acre Big Cypress Seminole Reservation, one of several tribal reservations scattered around Florida. According to him, the accident occurred north of Interstate 75, which is also called as Alligator Alley.

Encounters with bears in Florida are reported sporadically. Wildlife authorities in central Florida told last week that they captured and killed a bear that was suspected of biting a woman on the arm last Wednesday as she was on a walk with her dog in the Orlando suburb of Lake Mary. Authorities told that they also captured 2 of that bear’s cubs but one was killed in the process. They added the other cub was old enough to survive on its own and they decided to release it elsewhere.

News Source: TheGuardian.net