CLERMONT, Fla.—A Groveland man was killed, and his two passengers injured, after a tree fell on the truck he was driving, causing him to crash into a dump truck Tuesday afternoon near Clermont, according the Florida Highway Patrol.
Shortly before 4:30 p.m., the 58-year-old Groveland man was westbound on County Road 474 in a 2017 Ford F-350 with a trailer attached, when a tree from the north shoulder fell on the truck, Trooper Migdalisis Garcia said. The impact of the tree caused the Ford to enter the eastbound lane, and the left side of the Ford collided with the left side of a 2004 Mack dump truck.
The Ford’s driver, and his front seat passenger, a 40-year-old Groveland woman, were airlifted to Osceola Regional Hospital in critical condition. The man was later pronounced deceased, Garcia said. A second passenger in the Ford, a 34-year-old man, also of Groveland, was transported to AdventHealth Four Corners Hospital with serious injuries. The dump truck driver, a 47-year-old Kissimmee man, was not injured.
The crash closed County Road 474 between Cemex Sand Mine and State Road 33 for several hours.