Five people were killed when a church van full of worshippers collided with a truck that burst into flames and created an explosion, according to reports.
The church van was en route to a worship service when the truck—a “bomb on wheels”—slammed into the van, according to WUSA9. The driver of the truck was reportedly fleeing the scene after rear-ending a Cadillac.
“It was worse than anything I could’ve thought,” Jose Santos Jimenez, pastor of the Iglesia Ministerio de Dios Unidos, tells The Washington Post. The 16 people in the van were on their way to Santos’ service. “I’m not a man who cries. I’m strong. But I haven’t stopped.”
Santos’ wife, Oneida Santos Jimenez, tells The Washington Post how parishioners immediately began interceding on behalf of the victims once they heard the news.
“It was strange for them not to have arrived that we already had a bad feeling,” she tells the newspaper. “We knew something was wrong.”
The crash and explosion killed an elderly couple, the driver of the truck, a 6-year-old girl and an unborn baby, according to the Associated Press. The pastor identified the elderly victims as Santiago and Elba Merche.
Santos tells ABC News the 6-year-old loved to “dance for the Lord” and “prayed for other kids.”
“Their parting is temporary and we will see them again,” Santos says.
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