A violent accident left a family of four and a newly engaged woman dead, and several bodies too charred to be identified.
It happened in Texas early Sunday morning and took the lives of Chelsea Cook, 33, and her as-yet-unidentified family, authorities said.
The only survivor was Cook’s fiancé, Evan Ranallo, whose truck was hit by the family’s Ford Focus. He had proposed to Cook just weeks earlier.
The smaller car was driving on the wrong side of the road when the incident occurred, local police continued to say, while witnesses described an explosion that occurred upon impact.
Fort Worth officials are now struggling to identify the other four involved, after their bodies were severely damaged when their car burst into flames. The victims include two parents and two children, neither of whom were identified.
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An accident in Texas early Sunday morning claimed the lives of Chelsea Cook, 33, and a still-unidentified family. The only survivor, Cook’s fiancé Evan Ranallo, is seen here with Cook. He was driving the couple’s van when it was hit by the family’s Ford Focus.
The family car is seen here. It exploded on impact and was traveling on the wrong side of the Fort Worth freeway when the accident occurred.
‘I saw the car that was no longer on fire, just unrecognizable. “It was so burned,” said a passerby. KSLA 12 News of the Ford Focus, which was unrecognizable after the accident.
“They were about a mile from their exit and they were hit head-on,” Laurel Summerfield, Chelsea Cook’s mother, added in an interview with KWTX 10.
“The car was going in the wrong direction.
“It just feels unfair, very unfair.”
As he spoke, Ranallo remained at JPS Hospital with “serious” injuries, which required surgery but were not specified.
The 34-year-old had just played a show with his band, friends and family said, and was seconds from the couple’s home when tragedy struck.
It happened at the track near Marine Creek Reservoir around 3:30 a.m., minutes after the pair left the show.
“They were driving straight and going over 80 miles, definitely going over 80 miles,” recalled a motorist who had been at the scene named Valerie, who told NBC 5 that she had to swerve to avoid the wrong road. . road car.
Witnesses described an explosion that occurred after the impact, which burned the family so badly that their remains have not yet been identified days later.
Cook was also pronounced dead at the scene after suffering life-threatening injuries. Unlike the Ford Focus, the car he was in did not immediately explode. He worked as a travel agent.
“It was shocking to us because it literally would have been us, for a second, if we hadn’t veered off the path,” he recalled.
‘It makes us feel a little guilty again because someone else passed away.
“The whole family that was in the car died, but someone else was also killed.”
The woman said she called 911 immediately and the rest happened extremely quickly.
Another witness went on to say WFAA: ‘The car was right in front of me. You could barely see anything because there was so much fire. It was engulfed in flames.
“I saw all these first responders going and grabbing levers, going and grabbing defibrillators, and coming back with that look on their faces, like they knew it was too late,” he continued, as the cause of the breach remains unknown.
All five were later pronounced dead at the scene, prompting the ongoing investigation.
In an interview with People, Summerfield spoke positively about her daughter and revealed how she had worked as a travel agent.
In the photo, the only survivor, Ranallo, proposed to Cook three weeks ago during a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He remains in the ICU
“We don’t understand why they were going the wrong way on a road like that,” Summerfield said Tuesday, as police await a toxicology report and still don’t know the cause of the crash.
She added that her daughter’s “mission in life” was to “build people up”, while Cook’s boss Sandy Cunningham described her as having “a vibrant spirit”.
Both said they found comfort in knowing that Cook’s final weeks were some of his happiest.
As for the other victims, who police said were more than likely two parents and their two children, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner will release their names.
DailyMail.com has contacted for comment.
In a statement sent to DailyMail.com on Wednesday, Fort Worth police confirmed that the Ford Focus had been ‘traveling in the wrong direction…(resulting) in a fire and entrapment of the vehicle.
“Five people were declared dead at the scene by medical personnel, and one more person was transported to an area hospital,” a PIO added.
‘Officers continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident. The scene is still active.’
“(Chelsea) was loved by a lot of people,” he concluded. An investigation into the incident is underway.
Police are also awaiting a toxicology report on those who died in the incident, as they seek to discern why the Ford Focus was traveling in the wrong direction.
“We don’t understand why they were going the wrong way on a road like that,” Summerfield said of Tuesday.
“(Chelsea) was loved by a lot of people.”