In brief
In the heart-wrenching aftermath of a tragic vehicular accident, a Salvadoran family of eight has perished in Georgia when a tractor-trailer collided with their van. The incident claimed the lives of Maribel Ramírez, her five children, and her son-in-law and grandson. Family members in their homeland of Tepetitan grapple with grief while seeking assistance for the costly repatriation of the victims' bodies.
TEPETITAN, El Salvador (AP) — Parents, siblings, aunts, nephews and other relatives of a Salvadoran family of eight who died in the fiery crash of a semitrailer and a van in Georgia this week struggled to wrap their minds around the tragedy on Wednesday as they hoped that the bodies of their lost loved ones would soon be repatriated to the Central American nation.
The family died on the way to shop at a local mall on Monday afternoon when a tractor-trailer collided with their van, according to law enforcement. Their van burst into flames and killed 42-year-old Maribel Ramírez, and her five children, Justin, Andy, Natali, Evan and Kenia, who was three months pregnant. The crash also claimed the lives of Kenia’s husband Darwin and her 3-year-old son.
Most in the van were children.
Georgia State Patrol arrested the driver of the tractor-trailer, 33-year-old Kane Aaron Hammock, who has been charged with eight counts of second-degree vehicular homicide, one count of second-degree feticide by vehicle, following too closely, no registration, and failure to exercise due care.
In Tepetitan, the family's hometown, relatives are left reeling from the sudden loss. “It’s something painful that we’re living through,” said Carmen Gavidia Ramírez, Maribel’s sister. “I couldn’t believe it when they called us Monday night to tell us they had died.”
Maribel was the first in her family to migrate to the U.S. nearly two decades ago and worked as a day laborer to support her family back home.
Family members are currently navigating the difficult process of repatriating the bodies, which could cost upwards of $100,000. They have received support from El Salvador’s Foreign Ministry and have initiated a GoFundMe page to help cover these unexpected expenses as community support has begun to materialize.
As they face an unimaginable loss, family and friends are rallying around the grieving relatives, highlighting both the devastating impact of the accident and the depth of their shared memories.
