GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- A teenage survivor of a massive weekend wreck along Interstate 75 in Florida is healing nicely, a family friend told 11Alive News Tuesday morning.
Lidiane Carmo is talking now and is doing much better, according to Rosana Alves.
Lidiane is the only member of her family to survive the pileup. Her father, Jose Carmo Jr., pastor of the International Church of the Restoration, a Brazilian congregation in East Cobb; his wife Adriana Carmo; Lidiane's sister Leticia; Jose's brother Edsom Carmo; and Edsom Carmo's unidentified girlfriend were all killed.
"We are now trying to focus on Lidiane. Because she doesn't know what happened," Alves said Monday. "But we are here for her."
Lidiane was originally listed in critical condition at Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville, but is expected to recover.
PHOTOS | 10 dead in Florida I-75 pileup
The victims were in a van returning from a church conference in Orlando when the wreck happened.
The Florida Highway Patrol says visibility on the interstate was near zero from a combination of fog and smoke from a nearby brush fire. The wreck left twisted wreckage and burned out vehicles across lanes in both directions of I-75 just south of Gainesville.
Officials said smoke and fog forced the Highway Patrol to close I-75 and nearby US 441 late Saturday night, but the highway was reopened early Sunday morning before the series of wrecks began around 3:45 a.m.
Investigators trying to find an exact cause for the crashes are looking at whether or not the fire was intentionally set.