FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ga. — The names and ages of the seven victims of a fatal crash in Franklin County, Georgia have been released. A Paulding County family is among them. The youngest crash victim was just 3 years old.
The Franklin County Coroner's Office released their identities Sunday.
Chris Years, 33, Ashley Years, 33, and Luna Years, 3, were all in one vehicle involved. They lived in Paulding County, according to the coroner.
Inside the second vehicle were Alejandro Agis Perez, 52, Noe Gutierrez Cerna, 39, Oswaldo F. Hi Navarrete, 25 and Eugenio Santoyo Serna, 36. All were from Hall County.
Three children are also still hospitalized after they were taken to the Greenville Memorial Pediatric Trauma Center in Greenville, South Carolina. Their current status is unknown.
Franklin County Coroner Scott O'Barr said that his office, along with the Hart and Madison County Coroner's Offices, worked throughout the night and following day to identify and contact the families of the victims.
In a statement, O'Barr shared his condolences with all the victims' families.
"Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to all the families affected by this tragic event and in their upcoming days," the statement said.
The deadly crash happened Saturday on Interstate-85 in Georgia, near mile marker 160.
According to the Georgia State Patrol, the accident was started when a Ford Excursion heading north - for unknown reasons - crossed the median and entered the southbound lanes. Authorities said the Excursion hit a Chevrolet van going south in the left lane, causing it to hit a Ford E-350 van in the right lane.
Photos: Fatal Franklin County crash
GSP said three people inside the Excursion — the Years — died. Three more passengers — children, according to the coroner — were taken to the hospital.
All four people inside the van — Perez, Cerna, Navarrete and Serna — were also killed.
No one inside the E-350 van was hurt, and two other vehicles were involved but only received minor damage from debris flying from the other impacts.
Pictures taken by the sheriff's office show the aftermath and video provided by people passing the scene show the helicopters landing to transport victims.
Jenny Benton, who works off the exit near where the deadly crash happened, said she had just come into work when it happened.
"It was kind of overwhelming - really sad to hear that first thing," she said.
"It's just terrible, like, the store was packed and full of people," she added. "Everybody was just talking about how backed up the traffic was. It was just - it was terrible."
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