Filipino-American mother sole survivor of crash that killed her family

crash
The Trinidad family who all perished in the horrific crash, except for the mother. Picture via their GoFundMe appeal page.

The mother of a Filipino-American family was the sole survivor of a car crash that killed her husband and four daughters in the United States.

The Trinidad family was on their way back to Teaneck, New Jersey after spending a vacation in Ocean City Maryland on Friday (July 6) when tragedy struck, according to the Associated Press.

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Police say the family was riding on US Route 1 in Townsend when a pickup truck travelling south crossed the median for unknown reasons and hit the northbound minivan and another car.

The truck driver, a 44-year-old man from East New Market, Maryland, was treated and released from hospital following the crash. Police are investigating whether he was “impaired” at the time of the accident, although no charges have yet been brought against him.

Audie Marquez Trinidad, 61, a US Navy veteran who worked at the postal office in Bronx, New York, together with his daughters Kaitlyn Trinidad, aged 20; Danna Trinidad, 17; and 13-year-old twins Melissa Trinidad and Allison Trinidad, all died in the incident.

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Mary Rose Ballocanag Trinidad, 53, survived the tragedy. She was injured and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Reports say she has broken ribs, arms, and legs and remains in a serious condition. She is expected to survive her ordeal.

Trinidad and Ballocanag met in New York after coming to the United States in the 1980s. After working with the US Navy, Trinidad was a postal worker in the Bronx. Ballocanag is a nurse at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan.

Since the crash, a GoFundMe campaign has been launched, collecting a total of over $75,000 as of posting time. The original target was just $10,000 to assist with burial costs.

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