Two die in fiery crash near Citra

CITRA -- Two Ocala women, apparently leaving a bar and driving down the wrong side of U.S. 301, died in a fiery crash late Tuesday night after their vehicle slammed head-on into a tractor trailer.

The accident occurred just before 11 p.m., a couple miles south of Citra. Crews with the Marion County Fire-Rescue had received a call of a truck explosion. Capt. Joel Matthias said when firefighters arrived on the scene, they could see flames 20 to 25 feet in the air, and the truck and Jeep Wrangler engulfed in fire.

The truck driver, Carroll Ricker, 60, escaped the cab without injuries. But the women likely died on impact, said an official with the Florida Highway Patrol.

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