UPDATE: US 27 Reopened After Fatal Crash That Killed Six

Six people lost their lives and four others were taken to the hospital Thursday night after an accident in Nicholasville.

Both lanes of US 27 in Jessamine County were closed into the early hours of Friday morning as investigators reconstructed the accident scene between Edgewood Drive and Shun Pike.

According to police officials, a car was headed northbound when it lost control, crossed the grass median and hit a van head-on before bursting into flames.

The Jessamine County coroner told us the youngest victim killed in the crash is a three-year-old.

A friend of one of the victims talked to ABC 36 News about how he found out about the accident.

“We were actually on the way to my buddy’s house, [when] he got a phone call saying somebody was in a wreck and we were just sitting there hoping it wasn’t anybody we knew,” Chris Parson said. “Then we get the phone call saying it was one of our good friends and I just didn’t believe it.”

Nicholasville Police are looking for the driver of a red Ford Mustang who was near the crash scene. Police said the car was not involved in the crash, but think the driver may witnessed what happened.

Although our news crews did speak to people who know the victims, out of respect for the victims and their families, ABC 36 News policy is to withhold those names until the coroner officially releases them.

The coroner is expected to release the names of the victims later in the day on Friday.