8 killed, 38 injured when bus crashes and flips, Florida cops say. Man charged with DUI
UPDATE: State troopers have arrested the driver of the Ford Ranger truck, Bryan Maclean Howard, on eight counts of driving under the influence – manslaughter, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
The original story is below.
Eight people died and 38 others were hurt when a bus loaded with farm workers crashed into another vehicle west of Ocala, according to Florida authorities.
The hospitalized passengers include eight people listed in critical condition, according to the Marion County Fire Rescue.
Identities of the eight who died have not been released.
The crash occurred around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 14, near the intersection of State Road 40 and Southwest 148 Court, about an 85-mile drive northwest of Orlando.
“The collision involved a 2010 International Bus transporting approximately 53 farm workers and a 2001 Ford Ranger truck,” the Florida Highway Patrol said in a news release.
“For reasons to be determined, the two vehicles collided in a sideswiped manner. Post-crash, the bus traveled off the roadway through a fence and then overturned.”
Marion County Fire Rescue declared the incident a “mass casualty incident.” Paramedics arrived to find 46 patients, including the eight who died, officials said.
The department report it took 38 people to area hospitals: “8 in critical condition and 30 with non-life threatening injuries.”
The bus was headed to Cannon Farms in Dunnellon, the Ocala StarBanner reported.
Cannon Farms announced in a May 14 Facebook post it was closing for the day “out of respect to the losses and injuries endured early this morning in the accident that took place to the Olvera Trucking Harvesting Corp.”
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