A mother and her five young children were among seven people killed when a wrong-way driver smashed into a van on an interstate just outside of Chicago early Sunday morning.

Illinois State Police said Jennifer Fernandez, 22, was driving the wrong way on Interstate 90 in McHenry County around 2 a.m. when she crashed head-on into a van being driven by Thomas Dobosz, 32. 

Both cars burst into flames upon impact. Fernandez was killed in the crash. Police said it is unclear why Fernandez was driving the wrong way on the interstate. 

Aftermath of a deadly head-on car crash outside of Chicago

Five children were among seven people killed in a horrific head-on crash in Illinois. (Fox 32 Chicago)

Dobosz was seriously injured. His wife, Lauren Dobosz, 31, was killed. 

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Their five children also died in the crash. Police did not identify the five children by name, but said they included two 13-year-old girls, a 7-year-old boy, a 6-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl.

A car and van are seen burned on the side of an Illinois interstate

A woman driving a car slammed head-on into a family in a van. Both cars burst into flames. A mother and her five children were killed. The father, who was driving the van, was the only survivor of the Chicago-area crash. (Fox 32 Chicago)

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Neighbors of the Dobosz family told Fox 32 Chicago they were stunned by the horrifying crash. 

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A badly burned van is hauled away from the scene of a crash

A charred van is hauled away from the scene of a crash in Illinois. Five children and their mother who were riding in the van were killed. The woman driving the car that hit them was also killed in the crash. (Fox 32 Chicago)

One neighbor told the station that the children would always say hi, and that Tom and Lauren took care of elderly grandparents who lived near them.