A 2-year-old girl and a 41-year-old man were killed early Tuesday morning when the pickup truck they were riding in slammed into a stopped garbage truck in Marion County.
The crash took place around 6:45 a.m. on County Road 328, just east of N.W. 140th Avenue. The truck was being driven by a 40-year-old Parrish woman and was heading west when it struck the rear section of the garbage truck. The driver, who was wearing a seat belt, suffered serious injuries and was transported to Ocala Regional Medical Center, a Florida Highway Patrol report states.
The 41-year-old front-seat passenger and the toddler, both of Parrish, were pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics from Marion County Fire Rescue. Neither was properly restrained inside the vehicle, the FHP report states. Two trash collectors who were outside the garbage truck were able to avoid the crash and weren’t injured.