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One Dead, Two Seriously Injured After U.S. 19 Crash

Police Lights | Florida | TB Reporter

The driver ran a red light, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

PINELLAS COUNTY – A woman is dead and two men are in serious condition after a traffic crash Thursday (April 12) at U.S. 19 N and 54th Avenue, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Savita Gupta, 48, died at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg where she was taken after the crash. She was a passenger in one of the vehicles. She was not wearing a seat belt. Ramavtar Gupta, 52, the driver, and Mahadeo Gupta, 21, the other passenger, were taken to Bayfront in serious condition. They were wearing seat belts. All are from India. There were no other injuries.

The crash happened about 11:04 a.m. Troopers said Ramavtar Gupta was driving a 2014 Honda Accord east on 54th Avenue N in the inside lane. He ran a red light at the intersection of 54th and U.S. 19 and drove into the path of a 2017 semi-truck driven south on U.S. 19 by Todd Franklin Cantrell, 46, of Lakeland. The semi hit the left side of the Honda.

The Honda was pushed counter clockwise into the path of a 2002 Chevrolet Impala driven by Kaleigh Marie McCausland, 19, of Dallas, GA. The Chevrolet collided with the Honda, which continued southeast and crossed into oncoming traffic where it collided with a 2013 Isuzu truck, which was driven by Jerzy Rytych of Wesley Chapel.

The Honda re-entered the southbound lanes of U.S. 19 where it again collided with the semi, which was coming to a stop after the initial collision, troopers said.

Florida Highway Patrol | Traffic Crash | U.S. 19 Crash | Fatal Crash | Savita Gupta | Tampabay News

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