More Details, Victims ID'd in Fatal I-75 Van Crash

Authorities have released the identity of one of the two people killed Sunday when a van blew out a tire and overturned on Interstate 75 in Sarasota County.

Georgianna Bennett, 44, of North Fort Myers, and another woman were killed in the Sunday morning crash near Mile Marker 194, just north of Jacaranda Boulevard in Venice, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The second woman's identity has not yet been released pending notification of the family.

Six other people were injured when the van's left rear tire blew out, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The van veered from the left lane across the center and right lanes of the highway and overturned, according to a FHP release.

The van was carrying two staffers and six residents from a group home for people with developmental disabilities to a summer camp, the Fort Myers News-Press reports.

The 1994 Dodge Ram van had just been inspected Friday and had a tire replaced, but not the one that blew out, according to the newspaper.

The driver, Johniece F. Diaz, 28, of Cape Coral, went to Blake Medical Center in Bradenton with serious injuries. Passenger Amy Plant, 48, of North Fort Myers, also went to Blake with critical injuries, authorities said.

Jami J. Curran, 31, of Cape Coral, and Jerry Hill, 55, of North Fort Myers, were taken to Venice Hospital with serious injuries. 

And two passengers were taken to Doctors Hospital in Sarasota: James Funk, 72, of North Fort Myers, who suffered minor injuries; and Lester Krueger, 34, also of North Fort Myers, who was seriously injured.

The crash remains under investigation.