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Death Toll In Interstate 4 Collisions Has Risen To 5

Tribune photo by GREG FIGHT

Francisco Gomez holds up a photo on Adrian Gomez Friday during a news conference.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 15, 2008

TAMPA - The 70-vehicle pileup on Interstate 4 in Polk County on Wednesday has claimed a fifth life, authorities said.

Adrian Moran Gomez, 30, of Lakeland died Sunday at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Larry Coggins. The highway patrol wasn't notified about the death until this morning, he said.

Gomez was a passenger in an eastbound 1994 Plymouth that was involved in one of a series of crashes Wednesday. Four people died at the scene, troopers said.

Eight members of the Gomez family were involved in the crash, said Ross Garcia, spokesman for William McBride, the Orlando attorney who is representing the Honduran family.

Adrian Gomez was a father of four small children, Garcia said. He and seven other members of the Gomez family were en route to a construction job in Kissimmee when the two minivans they were in drove into near-zero visibility on Interstate 4 near Polk City.

The road was blanketed with dense fog, and a brush fire north of the interstate was producing thick smoke.

At a news conference last week, McBride said he is exploring the legal rights of the family. He described how the family blamed smoke from the nearby fire, which was started by the state Jan. 8 as a controlled burn. The 10-acre fire jumped firebreaks and had scorched 400 acres by the time the pileup occurred at 5 a.m. Wednesday.

The Gomez family lives in Lakeland and mostly works construction jobs in Central Florida, Garcia said. Most suffered only minor injuries, scrapes and bruises. Both minivans were hit by a single tractor-trailer, Garcia said.

Two other Gomezes were hospitalized, Garcia said. One broke a leg; the other has a broken sternum and "is still spitting up blood."

Both are recovering at home, Garcia said. A fund is being set up to help the family offset medical and funeral expenses, he said.

"One just doesn't have the money for a cast for his leg," Garcia said, "and the other doesn't have money for an operation."

The family is focusing on funeral arrangements, he said.

Gomez's death was confirmed this morning as the highway patrol reopened Interstate 4 after five-hour a closure at the location of Wednesday's pileup.

Troopers closed the road in both directions about 3 a.m. after smoke from the still smoldering swamp fire shrouded the highway.

The highway was reopened about 9 a.m.

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