6 Lancaster family members killed in Guadalajara traffic crash, how you can help

LANCASTER – A destination wedding vacation ended in tragedy for a local family when six members died and three more were hospitalized following a single-vehicle traffic crash in Mexico this past Saturday.

According to Mexican media reports, the nine family members were occupants in an Astro van that overturned and landed in a ditch off the Guadalajara – Colima highway just before 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 23. Six were pronounced dead at the scene and three were transported to the hospital with severe injuries.

The deceased were identified as Maria Guadalupe García-Quezada, 59, and her husband, Juan Manuel Quezada, 63; their sons, Luis Manuel Quezada, 27, and Alejandro Quezada, 22; their daughter, Maria Guadalupe Quezada, 36; and their 12-year-old niece, Yuridia García. Their other daughter, Norma Quezada, 38, survived the crash, along with her 7-year-old daughter, Camila Quezada, and her new husband Alberto Grillo.

Norma and Alberto were married in Guadalajara on Oct. 16, and the entire family had traveled from Lancaster to Guadalajara for the destination wedding, according to friends. The group then traveled to Manzanillo for a vacation, and they were returning to Guadalajara when tragedy struck, according to family friend Susana Marin.

“It’s not normal to lose that many family members at once,” Marin said. “They were a close-knit, very loving, very caring family — always there for each other.”

“They always offered a helping hand to anyone who needed it,” Marin added.

Relatives are hoping the local community can offer a helping hand to the García-Quezada family.

How you can help

Loved ones have set up an online fundraiser to cover funeral and burial expenses for all six deceased individuals, and hospital expenses for the injured survivors. To donate, visit: https://gofund.me/0a91479d.

 

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