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Florence, AZ (KTVK) — The Arizona Department of Public Safety says nine people were killed in a head-on accident in Florence Wednesday night.
The deadly crash happened just before 10 p.m. on SR 79 at milepost 122.3, just south of the city of Florence.
DPS troopers and deputies from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office were called out to the two-vehicle collision.
Early information is that a Chevy Suburban carrying nine people was traveling northbound on SR 79 when it was struck head-on by a Buick passenger vehicle traveling southbound.
It is unknown why the southbound Buick went left of center and collided head-on with the Suburban.
Of the nine occupants in the Suburban, the driver, front seat passenger and five additional passengers were killed as a result.
Two other passengers are at area hospitals with serious to life-threatening injuries.
The driver and front seat passenger are U.S. citizens and the additional seven occupants are undocumented immigrants.
Troopers are working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to attempt to identify and make next-of-kin notifications.
Both the driver and front-seat passenger in the Buick were also killed as a result of the collision and troopers are working to make next-of-kin notifications.
Both directions of SR 79 were closed as a result of the collision and the highway was re-opened just after 4 a.m.
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