8 dead after bus carrying farm workers in Florida hit by truck

Eight people were dead and 40 others were hospitalized after a bus carrying farm workers collided with a pickup truck and overturned early Tuesday in north central Florida, officials said.

The driver of the pickup, Bryan Maclean Howard, survived and was charged with eight counts of driving under the influence-manslaughter, said David Kerner, executive director of the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

"Our sympathies and prayers are with the families of the deceased," Kerner said in a statement. "Consistent with our duties, the Florida Highway Patrol will conduct both a thorough and exhaustive traffic crash and criminal investigation."

The deadly collision happened around 6:35 a.m. on a hilly and rain-slicked rural road about 80 miles north of Orlando, the highway patrol said.

The bus, a 2010 International, was heading west on State Road 40 when, "for unknown reasons," a 2001 Ford Ranger "traveled toward the centerline" and the vehicles sideswiped each other, Highway Patrol Lt. Pat Riordan told reporters.
The bus, which was carrying about 50 people, barreled off the roadway, went through a fence, struck a tree and overturned in a field, Riordan said.

Forty of the bus passengers were hospitalized, Riordan said. At least eight of them were critically injured, according to the Marion County Fire Rescue service, which had initially reported that 53 people had been injured.

Riordan warned there was a "high probability" that the death count could rise because many of the injured were "in very serious condition."

“At this point, we are conducting a massive traffic homicide investigation,” Riordan said.

The driver of the Ford pickup was also taken to the hospital with serious injuries, he said.

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods told reporters over 30 ambulances were at the scene and described the victims as “hard-working individuals.” He said the rain and the slick road conditions may have been factors in the crash.

Meanwhile, Dominique O’Connor of the Farmworker Association of Florida said it was trying to help local authorities aid the victims and their families, most of whom speak only Spanish and are not from the area.