Parents Killed, Their 7 Kids Hurt in Alabama ATV Accident

Two adults were killed and seven children injured in an accident in a remote area of an all-terrain vehicle park in Alabama, authorities said. No one was wearing a harness or restraint in the off-road vehicle, the AP reports. The side-by-side RZR, an ATV model, crowded with nine people hit another ATV Saturday, overturned, and struck a tree at Indian Mountain ATV Park in Piedmont, Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency Director Shawn Rogers said during a news conference Sunday. The male driver was ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene. Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver said it appears the deceased driver was operating the ATV at a high rate of speed when it struck the other vehicle, whose driver tried to avoid the collision.

The sheriff's office is awaiting toxicology results to determine whether alcohol played a role. Four medical helicopters transported an adult female and three children to trauma centers in Birmingham. The woman later died from her injuries, officials said. Ambulances took the other four children to a hospital in Rome, Georgia. Rogers said officials have been told not one of the nine in the ATV was harnessed or restrained. The children injured ranged in age from 1 to 12 years old. Cherokee County Coroner Paul McDonald said in a text to the AP Sunday that the man who died was the father of all seven children and that the woman was the mother of three of the children. Family identified the victims as Marcus Ragland and Ashley Hawkins.

"I'm sure that it's not recommended to have nine people, especially young children, in a RZR not using safety harnesses," Shaver said. All the victims were from Georgia, McDonald said. Rogers said officials did not know the medical status of any of the children or have updates on their conditions. The two people in the other ATV were not injured and tried to render aid, Shaver said. AL.com reports the 4,700-acre Indian Mountain ATV Park is one of the South's biggest private off-road parks. First responders managed to get to the scene in 18 minutes, which Rogers described as "pretty remarkable for that area," per 11Alive.