A father and son continue to recover as they wait for the rest of their family to come home from the hospital after a fiery crash in Hyattsville earlier this month.
The evening of Nov. 8, Freddy Rodriguez was driving family and neighbors to their church, Iglesia Ministerio de Dios Unido, like he does every Sunday. His pregnant wife, Marta, and their children, 9-year-old Freddy Jr. and 6-year-old Deanna, were with him when a pickup truck struck their van -- a collision that killed five people, including the driver of the truck, and injured 14 others.
Rodriguez remembers the truck weaving through traffic with smoke and two wheels on fire. He said he swerved but couldn’t get out of the way fast enough.
The impact pushed the steering wheel and dashboard into his chest, and then the van caught fire.
Freddy Jr. said first-responders freed him from the wreck. He was released from the hospital the next day with a broken arm.
His sister remains in the hospital, as does his mother, but the baby boy who was due this month did not survive.
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Rodriguez said the infant was placed on his chest in the hospital for an hour before he was taken away. The first and last moments with his youngest son.
The emotional pain is greater than the physical, he said.
But he’s certain God saved the rest of his family, and while he knows there's a long road to recovery ahead, he said he's thankful to be home and thankful for the first-responders who risked their lives to save his family.
Santiago Merche, 75, and Elba Linares, 73, of Northwest Washington, were killed in the crash in the 2600 block of Chillum Road. Staily Gomez, 6, of Northwest Washington, also died, police said.
Staily was a kindergarten student at Brightwood Education Campus in D.C., where Freddy Jr. and Deanna also go to school.
A GuFundMe page was created to help these students' families.
Police identified the driver of the pickup as 30-year-old Medardo Flores of Chillum, Maryland.
The investigation shows the pickup truck hit a car in the westbound lanes of Chillum Road, police said. Flores fled the scene but lost control moments later, crossed into the opposite lane of traffic and slammed into the church van. The truck then burst into flames -- trapping, injuring and killing passengers.
