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Deadly Rollover Crash At Turnpike Tollbooth

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NORTH LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Three people were killed in a rollover crash at a Turnpike toll plaza north of Commercial Boulevard.

The accident occurred around 2:30 a.m. north of McNab Road and south of Atlantic Boulevard.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports the car, which was stolen, hit booth the booth, and guard rail meant to absorb the impact, at a high rate of speed.

However, the force of the impact was so strong, the car went airborne, flipping over the top of booth, taking out its air conditioning unit, and landing on the other side. The four men in the car were all ejected, none were wearing seatbelts.

"One of the occupants ended up in the northbound through lanes, one ended up on the roof, and two other ones ended up outside the vehicle. We have two people who were confirmed fatal on scene and two were transferred to Broward Health North in critical condition," said FHP Sgt. Mark Wysocky.

FHP identifies two of the fatalities as 17-year-old Matthew Bryan and 15-year-old Kevin Bryan, both from Miramar.

The lone survivor, 19-year-old Cesar Pina of Opa-locka, remains in critical condition at Broward Health North.

A man who knew the teens said his neighborhood is mourning their loss.

"They're the type of kids that were always willing to help," said Jorge Dipp. "Whether it was issues with the internet or the TV, they would drop what they were doing to come and help you out."

FHP said there was one person working in a toll booth at the time, but thankfully it wasn't the booth that was hit.

"Obviously, very fortunate that he wasn't in the second toll booth that was hit," said Sgt. Wysocky.

The early morning crash shut down part of the Turnpike for hours, causing huge backups.

Video from the plaza is being retrieved to piece together what happened and determine how fast the driver was going when he slammed into the wall.

FPH says the car was reported stolen out of a Miramar gated community early Monday.

Investigators are now trying to figure out what happened between then and Tuesday morning that lead up to this violent crash.

"We feel a deep sorrow and pray that God give that family strength to withstand the pain they're going through," Dipp said.

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