Florida Car Crash Kills Three, Injures Eight After Vehicle Hits Black Bear

Three people were killed Sunday and eight others were injured when a vehicle collided with a black bear in south Florida. The accident, which involved three cars and 13 people, occurred when the bear was crossing Snake Road, north of Interstate 75 on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian reservation.

One woman, who did not get hurt in the collision, was reportedly driving on the two-lane Snake Road, when she hit the bear. Three others in a trailing vehicle came out of the car to help her, when a third car hit and killed them. At least two of the three vehicles were reportedly travelling in opposite directions. The identities of those involved in the crash were not immediately available, according to The Associated Press (AP).

Among the injured, four were airlifted while the rest were taken by an ambulance to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, reports said. Two people survived the accident unscathed, while the bear was killed on the spot. Accident reconstruction teams reportedly reached the spot to investigate the accident.

"There are bears all through the Everglades, but this is the first time we've had an accident involving a bear," Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the Seminole police department, told the Sun Sentinel, a local newspaper.

However, earlier reports suggest accidents involving bears have taken place in the region in recent years.

There are about 3,000 black bears in Florida, according to The Telegraph, and in 2011, a bear was hit by a car and crashed through the window of an oncoming car. Two people were killed in the accident, which also killed the bear. Last year, a woman in Florida was chased by a bear on Halloween night and was saved after a neighbor came to her aid.