A major crash on the Florida’s Turnpike in Miami-Dade on Monday left two Florida Highway Patrol troopers hospitalized and caused the roadway to be completely shut down at one point.
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The crash happened around 10:40 a.m. in the northbound lanes of the Turnpike near Northwest 106th Street.
FHP officials said a silver FHP truck towing a trailer was being followed by a marked FHP Charger when the trailer became disabled by a flat tire.
Both vehicles pulled over to the emergency shoulder before a black Cadillac SUV veered off the roadway and crashed into the Charger, which struck a trooper who was standing outside near the trailer, officials said.
Aerial footage from Chopper 6 showed the FHP cruiser heavily damaged in the median of the highway next to the damaged trailer on the back of a pickup, with the SUV nearby with heavy front-end damage.
First responders were seen assisting at least two people who were injured. One trooper was sitting inside the vehicle at the time of the collision, officials said.
The crash left all lanes of the Turnpike closed as a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue helicopter landed to airlift at least one of the people who was injured.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials confirmed two trauma alert patients were taken to a local hospital.
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FHP officials said the two troopers, identified as Sgt. Alexis Otano and Trooper Amaury Quinones, suffered serious injuries but were expected to survive.
Otano, 54, was driving the truck and standing near the trailer while Quinones, 32, was inside the car, officials said. They were bringing in a FHP motorcycle for maintenance, officials said.
At a news conference Monday afternoon, FHP Chief Matthew Williams said the 28-year-old driver of the Cadillac was hospitalized with minor injuries.
The Cadillac driver has a suspended driver’s license and shouldn’t have been driving, and charges are pending, Williams said.
Williams called it a “situation that never should have happened,” adding that driver’s are required to move over for emergency vehicles under Florida law.
“They’re extremely lucky to have survived that incident and obviously it could have been a lot worse,” Williams said.
The northbound lanes of the Turnpike remained closed into Monday afternoon with traffic being diverted onto Northwest 74th Street.
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No other details were immediately known.
Check back with NBC6 for updates.