Updated: American Medical Response identified the victims as critical care paramedic and supervisor Paul Besaw, 36 and Lahiri Garcia, 51, according to WPTV.com.
JUPITER -Two American Medical Response ambulance employees were killed and a third person was seriously injured early Thursday when an ambulance crashed, rolling over and trapping people inside it, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue authorities said.
No patients were in the ambulance at the time, said Officer Kristin Rightler, Jupiter police spokeswoman.
The crash took place at about 3 a.m. near Indiantown Road and Military Trail, about a mile northwest of Jupiter Medical Center.
Multiple vehicles were involved in the crash, said Capt. Albert Borroto, Fire Rescue spokesman. Firefighters had to cut the trapped occupants out of their vehicles.
The injured person was taken to a trauma center, Borroto said.
Ramon Chapa was at a bus stop, he said, when a red car tried to make a U-turn in the median near Colonial Plaza and pulled out in front of an ambulance.
The right side of the car, a red Sedan, was heavily damaged and the windshield was cracked. The ambulance was flipped on its side.
The ambulance did not have its emergency lights on, Chapa said. It was heading west on Indiantown Road, away from Jupiter Medical Center. Both cars had their headlights on, according to Chapa.
Chapa said he and another person at the bus stop ran to the crash and tried to help. He saw one person in the ambulance struggling to breathe.
Jupiter police are investigating the crash.
Traffic was delayed in the area for hours after the fatal wreck. By 6:30 a.m. the ambulance had been loaded onto a tow truck.
———
©2017 The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Visit The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.) at www.palmbeachpost.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
