SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A transport van carrying adults with special needs crashed into a tractor-trailer Monday afternoon, and Channel 2 Action News has learned the identities of those who were killed.
The victims have been identified as 33-year-old Aquilla Walker, the van's driver, and 25-year-old Cyprian Sanders, who was a passenger.
The crash happened along Royal South Parkway in Union City.
Six other passengers in the van were injured and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. The driver of the tractor-trailer, Jerome David, was also injured and taken to Atlanta Medical Center South.
At this point, it's unknown if Walker got distracted or had a medical emergency or if something else caused the crash.
The mother of one of the survivors told Channel 2's Tom Regan her daughter is still hurting.
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“There's no bruises outward, but there's something inward. Her equilibrium is off, balance is off," Samantha Hudson said about her 27-year-old daughter, Mykeil, who is having trouble walking after the crash. “When you look at the accident, I’m surprised she made it out.”
Hudson said she got the dreaded phone call telling her there was an accident and to go to Grady hospital.
“That’s when I panicked. I didn't know what to think," Hudson said. “The parents, all of us, are still grasping to learn the gravity of this."
Though Mykeil was released from the emergency room, her mom worries about her bruised leg and the possibility of a concussion.
"Cognitively, communication is already low, and now, trying to assess what's right, what's wrong with her, I don't know how," Hudson said.
Hudson said she is taking her daughter to a see a specialist. She said her heart goes out to the families of Walker and Sanders.
“I’m grateful to God, but I’m hurt," Hudson said.
The disabilities organization caring for the adults said the tragic crash is heartbreaking and it's assessing the needs of all those affected.