THORNTON, Colo. — Four of six family members died in a crash Saturday evening. The family's surviving sons say police told them their family was rear-ended at a red light.
"It just didn't feel real. I was really just hoping it was a nightmare and not something that actually happened," 20-year-old Adam Diaz told 9NEWS.
Adam could have been in the car, but he chose to stay home while his parents and younger sisters went to the grocery store. Adam said police told him their family got rear-ended, pushed into the intersection of Thornton Parkway and Washington Street, where they got T-boned by another.
“I got there pretty quick, but everything was already on flames. So, there was nothing anybody could do," Adam said.
On Tuesday, Thornton Police confirmed the family was sitting at a red light on Washinton Street at Thornton Parkway when they were hit. Police said as they sat at the light, the driver of a Subaru approached "at a high rate of speed" and slammed into the back of their SUV. The impact, police said, caused the gas tank of the family's car to rupture and catch fire.
A Chrysler van was also involved in the crash. No one in that vehicle was hurt.
Asked what the brothers need most, Adam's older brother Daniel said, "Guidance."
"It's really hard for me. I'm 22, but I'm still growing. I'm still learning. I'm still trying to make decisions on my own. It's hard," Daniel Diaz said.
Adam and Daniel both had business dreams that involved their father. While they can no longer get advice from their parents, the brothers will still heed what their mom told them earlier this year after she lost her mother, and they lost their grandmother.
"She told us to keep going. It's kind of what they would want, not to give up, no matter what," Adam said.
Adam and Daniel dreamed of buying their parents a house. Now they will have to make home for themselves.
"I'm really grateful I still have him," Daniel said, "I could not have done this by myself."
But first, they will have to manage the costs of four funerals.
Police had no update on the condition of the Subaru driver. Anyone who has information about the crash is asked to call Thornton Police at 720-977-5150.