Six girls between ages of 1 and 18 killed in Tennessee car crash, authorities say

Six girls died and two adults were injured in a Tennessee car crash early on Sunday, March 26, authorities said.

The fatal incident reportedly occurred on I-24 West, northwest of Nashville, authorities said.

The young people who died appeared to range in age from 1 to 18, according to a news release from Robertson County Emergency Medical Services.

The children, a man and a woman were reportedly traveling in a Toyota Camry that went off the road and overturned. None of the victims have been identified.

“From what we simply saw, it was a very severe rollover associated type crash and it appeared that multiple patients were ejected,” Robertson County EMS Chief Brent Dyer said, according to local NBC affiliate WSMV 4.

Four ambulances and one air ambulance helicopter responded to the incident, according to Robertson County EMS.

All six children who had been traveling in the overturned car were pronounced dead on the scene, authorities said.

“It’s one of the hardest things we’ll ever do, as anybody in emergency services, is to realize that you can’t do something for a child,” Dyer said.

A man who was traveling in the Toyota Camry appeared to have minor injuries, and was transported to the Skyline Trauma Center in Nashville, authorities said.

Meanwhile, a woman who was ejected from the car was flown via air ambulance to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where she was in critical condition.

Another vehicle was near the crash scene in the aftermath of the incident, though authorities have not clarified whether that car was involved in the incident.

The crash is currently being investigated by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Dyer noted that mental health and counselling services are being coordinated for first responders.

“Something like this would shock anybody. We are still human,” Dyer said, according to WSMV 4.

Authorities have not shared whether the Toyota Camry’s passengers were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, but Dyer sent out a general safety warning for parents.

“I beg people to put your children in the proper restraint devices and I beg everyone driving on the road to think about the outcome of impatience and the outcome of intolerance,” he said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com