LAKE WALES, Fla. — A woman is dead, and a man is critically injured after a crash involving a dump truck in Lake Wales Tuesday afternoon.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office said around 2:30 p.m., the victims were at a stop sign on Canal Road in a 2011 silver Toyota Yaris. 79-year-old Minerva Cruz, the driver, began to enter Lake Mabel Loop to turn left. But Cruz entered into the path of a 2020 Kenworth dump truck loaded with sand, which was heading north on the same road.
The truck's driver, 60-year-old Oriol Bernal, swerved and braked to avoid striking the Toyota but was unable to do so. The truck then landed on its passenger side off the road after the impact.
Deputies found Cruz, who had already passed. The Toyota's passenger, 77-year-old Confesor Lopez, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
Bernal was also taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.
PCSO said the road was closed for around three hours during the investigation.
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