Father, 2 daughters killed when semitruck crosses over median on SC highway

ORANGEBURG, S.C. — A Watauga County family is devastated after a man and his two young daughters were killed in a crash Monday along Interstate 26 in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

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Neighbors told Channel 9's Dave Faherty that the children, ages 11 and 14, were home-schooled and they saw them nearly every day.

"Everybody's in shock. I mean, It's just hard to believe," said neighbor David Miller.

Faherty learned Thomas Rusgrove and his daughters were returning home from a funeral in Florida when the crash happened.

The South Carolina State Highway Patrol said a tractor-trailer crossed the median into the path of their minivan, killing them instantly.

Friends of the family said the the children's mother and teenage brother were also in the van and are still hospitalized.

"It's just such a horrific accident and a horrible thing, and it couldn't have happened to nicer people. So it's one of those thing where even if you don't know the people, it's horrible," one neighbor said.

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The driver of the semitruck was also injured. Investigators have not said what caused the truck to swerve into the family's path.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help support the family.

Cox Media Group