National Transportation Safety Board investigators were in Palm Beach County on Wednesday to investigate Monday night's fatal crash that left nine people, including six children, dead.
The NTSB said it was working with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to learn more about the crash that happened Monday night, when an SUV carrying 10 people crashed and flipped into a canal outside Belle Glade.
Four people were pronounced dead at the scene. Five others died at a hospital.
Officials said the car was approaching a curve in a rural area when the vehicle lost control, veered off the road, slammed into a guardrail, flipped over, and landed in a canal.
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Alvin Brown of the NTSB said in a news conference Monday said the agency is working closely with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to thoroughly investigate the probable cause of the crash.
“I wanted to evaluate. Was there some place we needed better signage?" Palm Beach County Commissioner Sarah Baxter said. "Did we need more lighting? I wanted to see the guardrails.”
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Though authorities haven't said how the victims are connected, it's believed many are related and have ties to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where a family member is a Bridgeport Board of Education custodial staff member.
According to an Instagram account for the driver of the vehicle, identified by police as Pamela Wiggins, the family was celebrating a relative’s 80th birthday in the Cape Coral area.
NBC6 reached out to the family member who lives in Cape Coral, who declined to comment about the tragedy.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office identified the victims. Authorities said none were wearing seatbelts.
Wiggins would have turned 57 on Tuesday. Naleia Tucker would have turned 2 years old on Sept. 2.
The other children killed were Ziaire Mack, 3; Kamdien Edwards, 5; Yasire Smith, who turned 5 last week, Imani Andre Ajani Hall, 8; and Michael Anthony Hall Jr., 14.
The other adults killed were identified as Anyia Monique Lee Tucker, 21, and Leiana Alyse Hall, 30.
One person, 26-year-old Jorden Rickey Hall, survived and was hospitalized with serious injuries.
NBC affiliate WPTV spoke to Ryanne Noel, a friend of victim Anyia Monique Lee Tucker.
“I worked with her and we developed a friendship spent a few summers together while I lived in Connecticut," Noel said in a statement. "She was a bright young light of a soul she was a beautiful person and a wonderful mother to her baby girl. I cherished the time we spent together. We traveled together and had a good friendship.”
Noel said Tucker is the mother of the 1-year-old who also died in the crash.
