MIAMI (WSVN) - Authorities have confirmed that the victims killed in a fatal, fiery Miami Springs crash were Miami Senior High School students.
The crash happened Monday at the intersection of Northwest 36th Street and 57th Avenue, just after 12:30 p.m.
Kenny Castro, a friend of the victims, said the students were liked and fun-loving.
“They were the type of kids that always like to have fun,” he said. “They were always in school and always cheered someone up when they were down.”
Castro added that the students were very close friends.
Tuesday afternoon, Miami-Dade Police have identified one of the deceased students as 18-year-old Gian Carlos Moncada. The identity of the other deceased male student remains unknown.
Surveillance video from a nearby Orion Fuels gas station showed one vehicle, which police have identified as an Infiniti sedan, making a left turn onto 57th Avenue.
As the car crossed the intersection, it was hit by a black Nissan Altima heading westbound on 36th Street.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the driver of the turning vehicle, later identified as 46-year-old Omar Amador Izquierdo of Hialeah, was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where he remains in serious condition.
Police said Izquierdo is expected to recover from his injuries.
The impact instantly killed the two students in the black Nissan.
“One amazing kid, smart in math, was always in school, was funny … when you were down, he was always there for you,” Castro said.
Cellphone video captured from an adjacent Chevron gas station showed one of the vehicles engulfed in flames as rescue crews and good Samaritans try to extinguish them.
“I saw the video of when the car was on fire and tears came down because I knew them,” Castro said. “I didn’t expect something tragic like that to happen.”
Humberto Gomez was stopped at a red light on 57th Avenue behind the wheel of a utility truck when the crash happened.
“If I was a little more forward, I would have died,” Gomez said Monday.
Now, Miami High students are left without two of their classmates days before graduation.
“We agreed that we wanted to go to Miami-Dade [College] to get our degree in culinary arts,” Castro said. “Now, I don’t know, so I guess it’s only me and not him.”
Students at the high school said that grief counselors were on the school’s campus Tuesday to help those affected by the loss of their classmates.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, however investigators have said that speed was factor in the crash.
Officials have yet to release the students’ identities.
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