A driver was killed on Tuesday afternoon, and two passengers were seriously injured, after a tree fell on their pickup truck, causing their vehicle to crash into a dump truck in Clermont.
The fatal crash occurred at around 4:25 p.m. on Tuesday, August 20, near the intersection of County Road 474 and State Road 33.
According to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol, three individuals – a 58-year-old man (driver), 40-year-old woman (front-seat passenger), and 34-year-old man (rear-seat passenger), all from Groveland – were traveling westbound on County Road 474, east of the State Road 33 intersection.
FHP stated that a tree from the north shoulder fell on the pickup truck, which caused the vehicle to enter the eastbound lane in the direct path of a dump truck. As a result, the left side of the truck crashed into the left side of the dump truck.
The pickup truck’s driver and front-seat passenger were both airlifted to HCA Florida Osceola Hospital in critical condition. The driver was later pronounced deceased at the hospital.
The second passenger in the pickup truck sustained serious injuries and was taken to AdventHealth Four Corners ER for treatment.
The driver and sole occupant of the dump truck, a 47-year-old Kissimmee man, was not injured.
An FHP trooper noted in the report that the crash remains under investigation.