Driver following too close behind van charged in crash that killed 3 adults, 5 kids, officials say

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ATLANTA (AP) — The driver of a semitrailer following too close behind a van has been arrested on homicide charges in a fiery crash that killed three adults and five children on a Georgia highway, law enforcement announced Tuesday.

Kane Aaron Hammock, 33, has been charged with eight counts of vehicular homicide in the second degree and one count of feticide by a vehicle in the second degree, Franka Young, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Public Safety, said in an email Tuesday afternoon. Hammock has also been charged with counts of following too closely, no registration and driver to exercise due care.

The victims were killed Monday afternoon, when the semitrailer struck a Dodge van on Interstate 85 in Jackson County, about 62 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta and it burst into flames, according to law enforcement.

The identities of the eight people killed in the van have not been released. Young said one person may have been pregnant, “but this will not be confirmed until an autopsy has been completed.”

Hammock was arrested by the Georgia State Patrol and booked into the Jackson County Jail, records show. Jail records did not list any attorney who could be reached to comment on his behalf, and a message left late Tuesday with the local public defender’s office was not immediately returned.

Four other vehicles also crashed in what officials described as a “chain reaction” after the initial collision.

A van being used by Furkids Animal Rescue and Shelters was one of the other vehicles involved in the crash. That van’s driver was left with bruises and cuts to his head, according to CEO Samantha Shelton.

“In the chaos of the wreckage, cages were crushed, and cats began to flee,” the Cumming, Georgia-based animal rescue group wrote on its Facebook page.

The group was taking 37 cats to a shelter in Vermont, and some of the cats fled after the crash, Shelton said. Two were still missing as of Tuesday, and one cat was hospitalized in critical care, Shelton said.

The crash is being investigated by the Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team, Young said. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the crash.

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Golden reported from Seattle.