Butler county coroner, Wayne Garlock, identified them as 29-year-old Cody Fox and his nine-month-old daughter, Ariana, both of Marion county, Tennessee. The crash also claimed the lives of two other people who were in a separate vehicle. “We love these girls like they’re our own children.” “Words cannot explain what I saw,” Smith said of the accident site, which he visited on Saturday. “This is the worst tragedy I’ve been a part of in my life,” said Smith. Four others were ranch residents and two were guests, Smith said. Two of the dead in the van were Gulley’s children, ages four and 16. “She’s going to survive her physical injuries,” Smith said.

Gulley remained in hospital in Montgomery on Sunday in serious but stable condition. It caught fire after the wreck and Candice Gulley, the ranch director, was the van’s only survivor after being pulled from the flames by a bystander. Michael Smith, the ranch’s chief executive, said the van was heading back to the home near Camp Hill, north-east of Montgomery, after a week at the beach in Gulf Shores. The van, carrying children aged four to 17, belonged to the Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch, a youth home operated by the Alabama Sheriffs Association. As much as 12 inches (30cm) of rain was reported on Saturday along the Mississippi Gulf coast. It was the most devastating blow of a storm that swept across the south-eastern US, causing flash floods and spurring tornadoes that destroyed dozens of homes.

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