WINTER PARK, Fla. — A car smashed into an Orlando-area day care Wednesday, killing a girl and injuring 14 others, at least a dozen of them children, authorities said.
Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Wanda Diaz said a girl died at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, but she didn’t have more information on her.
One person was in critical condition and five others were in serious condition, said hospital spokeswoman Katie Dagenais.
In all, 13 people were hospitalized and two others were treated at the scene, said John Mulhall, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Rescue.
Several of the injured at the KinderCare building in Winter Park were reported to be in “very, very serious condition,” Diaz said.
Local television footage showed small children and infants in cribs taken outside on the day care’s playground and several of the injured were carried out on stretchers.
Diaz said a Toyota Solara convertible went out of control after it was struck by a Dodge Durango, jumped a curb and smashed into the day care, breaking through the wall and into the building. That driver was not hurt.
The Durango fled the scene but was found about two hours later after it had been left at a home. Highway patrol said it is looking for 26-year-old Robert Corchado. Troopers said he was the driver of the Durango but wouldn’t say how they had established that. Troopers said Corchado might be trying to leave the area, and troopers and deputies headed to Orlando International Airport to look for him.
