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Traffic accident kills Lafayette minister, family helping with tornado recovery

LAFAYETTE, Tenn. -- A minister who was helping lead tornado recovery efforts in Lafayette and his family have been killed in a traffic accident two days after the storm.

The Highway Patrol and Lafayette United Methodist Church have confirmed that minister Michael L. Welch died Thursday when his van was struck by a tractor-trailer.

Welch's wife, Julie, his 11-year-old daughter, Hannah, and his 14-year-old son, Jesse, also died when the truck slammed into the rear of their vehicle.

Welch had helped set up his church as a family crisis center, where he and pastors from other churches provided grief counseling. A tornado killed 14 people in Macon County on Tuesday.

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