Seven Dead in Freak Cortland County Crash

Seven people are dead in a horrific, freak crash in Cortland County.

Sheriff's officials say a tractor trailer carrying crushed cars was traveling on Route 13 in the Town of Truxton shortly after 6 p.m. May 29 when the hitch gave way and the trailer separated from the truck. The trailer crashed into a mini-van carrying eight people, several of them children.

Only one person in the van survived and was taken to Upstate University Medical Center in Syracuse. That person's condition is not known. The two occupants of the tractor trailer were uninjured.

Route 13 was closed for about nine hours.

Due to the weight of the crushed cars in the trailer, authorities had to bring in a crane to lift it off the road.

The investigation is continuing and authorities have not released the names of any of the people involved.