An Alabama family is grieving after a mother and daughter died less than an hour apart in traffic accidents on the same road.

According to WAFF, Julia Yates Patterson, 39, was killed after a head-on collision on Highway 117 in Valley Head around 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. Just 30 minutes later, her 8-year-old daughter Elizabeth Patterson was hit by a car as she was crossing the same highway, reportedly near the family’s home.

“It’s such a terrible thing to happen,” DeKalb County Coroner Tom Wilson told AL.com.

Mrs. Patterson was alone in her vehicle at the time of the crash, and two passengers in the other vehicle were taken to the hospital.

It is not yet know why the little girl was crossing Highway 117. According to AL.com, she was hit by a 2008 Ford Focus and the driver was not injured. The accident is currently under investigation.

Co-workers of Elizabeth’s father Kevin Patterson have reportedly launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the funeral arrangements and missed work. The statement reads:

On Tuesday, Kevin Patterson’s daughter and her mother were involved in two separate accidents that claimed the lives of each. Please consider donating to the fund for Kevin during this tragic time. I’m sure that there will be a lot of expenses incurred and the last thing we want is for him to have to worry about that. We want him to have plenty of time to grieve and take the time he needs away from work to heal.

A man who identified himself as Elizabeth’s father and Julia’s ex-husband posted a comment on the AL.com story about the tragedy, writing “I can’t process this or understand how I could lose the two things I love most in this world.”

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