Emiliano Martinez was among five people who died in a two-vehicle crash on Thanksgiving Day.

MOULTRIE — Several Colquitt County residents are stepping up to assist after a car accident Thanksgiving day claimed the lives of five people. Six others were airlifted to hospitals in Thomasville and Tallahassee.

All those who survived are still recovering, though officials said many remain in a critical state.

The incident occurred on Highway 111 at roughly 4 p.m. when a van carrying 10 individuals and a truck with only the driver collided head on.

Georgia State Patrol is still actively investigating the cause of the accident.

“One of the daughters of the driver of the van was hosting Thanksgiving dinner,” said Joleen Johnson, who’s aiding in the relief efforts. “She had told her parents to invite people to come who didn’t have anywhere else to go. That’s how they were all in the van together.”

The accident occurred close to the van’s destination, and the commotion was spotted by one of the daughters on her way to the dinner, who notified the other of the horrific incident.

“The daughters were actually the first ones on the scene because it happened close to the house,” said Johnson. “They saw it all. They had to see their dad.”

Their father, Emiliano Martinez, age 58, died in the crash.

Juana Contreras, mother to Vanessa and Janette and spouse to Emiliano, survived, but she will require more surgeries and recovery before being released.

Since the incident, both Vanessa and Janette have been traveling back and forth from Thomasville and Tallahassee taking care of not only their mother, but the other surviving victims from the van: Leonarda Reyna Gonzales along with her 10-year-old twin boys, Jorge and Kenny Gallegos Gonzales, and Alfonso Martinez Yaben.

The four other passengers of the van lost their lives: 25-year-old mother Herlinda Sel-Choc and her 3-year-old son Anderson Sel as well as 61-year-old Anna Rodriquez and her partner, 73-year-old Jose Moreno.

The driver of the truck, Carson Young, was also airlifted to the hospital for his injuries.

“The first step was to figure out who everyone was,” said Nancy Najera, who is also helping with the relief. “A lot of the people in the van didn’t have IDs on their person, and it’s been challenging to identify everyone.”

Items like cell phones, social media, and even a personal journal were used to piece together the identities of the seven people without IDs.

“As of today [Monday] all victims have been identified,” said Johnson. “Now the last ‘John Doe,’ who was Jose, can finally be moved out of the morgue because we’ve made contact with his son in California.”

Rodriquez is being cremated and on Tuesday will begin the journey to her family in Colorado.

“Herlinda’s husband is devastated,” said Johnson. “He hasn’t been able to work and hardly eats or sleeps since we told him. He isn’t even staying at home because it’s too hard for him to be there without his family.”

There is a long road of healing ahead for every victim and family member involved.

“This experience has been a huge curveball for these families, especially given the time of year,” said Najera. “It’s going to take a community act to make sure they are all taken care of.”

Because of the insurmountable financial toll the families have now been placed under, a GoFundMe account has been set up in their behalf.

All donations will be used to help cover not only the cost of medical or burial expenses for all 11 individuals involved in the accident, but also to assist with day-to-day life as the families recover.

The GoFundMe account, set up by Justin Murphy, was activated Monday with the URL: https://gofund.me/9405de28.

“This is a very horrible accident,” said Najera. “Something you never want to happen, but here we are and we just have to roll with the punches, but we have to make sure it’s handled right.”