Butler County, Alabama - Nine children and one adult were killed in a horrific accident involving seventeen vehicles on I-65 in Butler County, Alabama.

According to CNN, the tragedy happened on I-65 northbound near mile marker 138 on Saturday afternoon.

One of the vehicles involved was a van from the Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch, a youth ranch that provides a home for students who have faced abuse or neglect.

Nine people, including eight children between the ages of 4 and 17, were inside the vehicle at the time of the accident.

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The children were killed when the van collided with another car and burst into flames.

The only survivor from the vehicle was Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch director Candice Gulley, who lost two of her own children in the crash. She is currently hospitalized in serious but stable condition.

As the Washington Post reported, the group was on its way back from a beach trip.

Two other people – 29-year-old Cody Fox and his 9-month-old baby daughter Ariana – were also killed after their vehicle crashed and caught fire.

"This, to us, is probably one of the worst we've ever seen in 38 years in Butler County," Butler County Coroner Wayne Garlock told the Washington Post. "We've seen a lot, but nothing of this magnitude."

He said the pileup could have started with a vehicle that hydroplaned as it drove on waterlogged roads across an I-65 bridge.

From there, he said, "it was just a chain reaction," with cars and trucks colliding into one another.

In total, 17 vehicles were involved, seven of which caught fire.

The highway was closed for several hours.