Church van crashes into canal, killing 8 and injuring 10

MOORE HAVEN, Fla. — An overloaded church van ran through a stop sign, crossed all four lanes of a dark rural highway and nosedived into a canal, killing eight people and injuring 10 early Monday in southwest Florida, authorities said.

"They didn't see that stop sign. They shot right through it," Glades County sheriff's Chief Deputy Duane Pottorff said. "It was a sad evening."

The van was heading back to a church in Fort Pierce, north of West Palm Beach on the Atlantic coast, after a weekend convention in Fort Myers, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Eighteen people were in the 15-seat-capacity van when it crashed about 12:30 a.m. Monday, according to the Highway Patrol.

Read Tuesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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