Two southbound Turnpike crashes lead to fatality, closure at Kissimmee Park

Florida Highway Patrol reports a small child was killed Thursday morning in a crash the occurred in the traffic jam of an earlier crash on southbound Florida’s Turnpike.

As of 10 a.m., all southbound lanes are closed, and traffic is being diverted at the Kissimmee Park Road interchange.

The fatal wreck happened at around 6:35 a.m. this morning at Mile Marker 214, south of the Canoe Creek Service Plaza and about 25 miles south of the Kissimmee Park Road exit. The crash involved a semi-truck vs a passenger car, FHP has reported, with a small child was reported deceased on scene.

Earlier in the morning, at 4:55, a semi-truck lost control, struck a guardrail and caught fire a little further south at Mile Marker 211, about 18 miles north of the Yeehaw Junction interchange, closing all southbound lanes during the cleanup. Traffic that was stuck behind the semi fire was beginning to move in one lane when the traffic fatality occurred, again closing the southbound lanes and forcing all traffic to exit at Kissimmee Park Road and make their way to U.S. 441 via Canoe Creek Road.

The incidents remain under investigation, and more details will be shared as they are released.