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Florida prom-goers aid in car accident rescue – NBCNews.com

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Danny Izzi / www.AvantiLimoRide.com

A photo taken by Avanti Limousines and Airport Transportation owner Danny Izzi at the scene of the accident in Davie, Fla.

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

Cummerbunds and courage rounded out prom night for a group of 20 Florida teenagers who sprang from their limo to help the victims of an automobile accident on Saturday.

The high school seniors were gussied up to dance the night away in Fort Lauderdale when a van carrying a family of seven overturned in front of them on Interstate 595. A dramatic video captured the students from Western High School in Davie, Fla., as they helped pull five adults and two children from the vehicle.

The driver of the van, a Honda Odyssey, was traveling eastbound on I-595 when traffic slowed, said Sgt. Mark Wysocky of Florida Highway Patrol. The driver apparently veered to the left, bouncing off the divider and turning the van on its side.

The students were in their Cadillac Escalade limo directly behind the van when it flipped just before 6:45 p.m., Danny Izzi, president of Avanti Limousines and Airport Transportation, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

“I almost hit them,” Izzi, who was at the wheel of the limo, told the paper. “I had to slam on my brakes, but with 20 kids in there it’s really [difficult] to put the brakes on.”

Prom-goer Peter Kim told NBC Miami that he grabbed a young boy from the overturned van and helped calm the mother.

“We laid her down, and we tried to calm her down. She was just panicking, she was in shock,” Kim said. “She was screaming out, ‘Where’s my baby? Where’s my baby?’”

“I was just hoping that the people were OK,” said fellow senior Frank Tucker.

The students still made it to prom after what Tucker described as a “silent” ride.

“It felt great that we got to help someone out and that we didn’t just roll on by,” Kim told NBC Miami. “I’m happy that I had my peers that actually helped out instead of just sitting there and doing nothing.”

The professionals agreed.

“It was really amazing, because nowadays when people are so willing not to get involved they were ready to get involved,” Sgt. Wysocky said. “All the students and the limo driver should be commended for stopping.”

There were no serious injuries, Wysocky said, though a 2-year-old child was not secured by a seat belt at the time of the accident.

View more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.


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