A Florida high school community is reeling after a school bus carrying dozens of students overturned during a violent multi-vehicle crash Monday morning, killing a 10th-grade girl and another person.
The crash happened around 6:13 a.m. on Oct. 5 along Lucerne Park Road in Winter Haven, about 45 miles southwest of Orlando, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The bus was carrying 39 people at the time — 37 high school students, the bus driver and the driver’s 9-year-old daughter — and was headed to Winter Haven High School when the crash unfolded.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said investigators’ preliminary review of video from the area indicates the school bus was traveling eastbound and remained in its proper lane before an oncoming white Chevrolet Malibu suddenly crossed the center line.
Authorities do not yet know why the Malibu drifted into opposing traffic.
The Malibu struck the school bus near its rear wheels, apparently causing the bus to lose a tire and sending it out of control, according to Judd.
The bus then crossed into the opposite lane and collided head-on with a silver Jeep. The Jeep caught fire following the impact, authorities said.
The school bus ultimately overturned and came to rest on its roof in a ditch alongside the roadway.
A 10th-grade girl aboard the bus was killed. A person traveling in the Jeep also died.
Authorities had not publicly identified either victim as of Monday morning.
“It was a horrible crash,” Judd told reporters at the scene. “It was a terrible, tragic morning.”
Judd called it one of the worst school bus tragedies he could remember in Polk County in decades. AP News
Between five and seven people were transported as trauma patients, according to authorities. At least one remained in critical condition Monday morning.
Medical helicopters, ambulances and other emergency crews rushed victims from the scene to area hospitals. Some people were also taken away in private vehicles as first responders worked to determine exactly who had been injured and where they were being treated.
Despite the badly damaged bus, officials said many of the students were able to escape.
Some teenagers immediately used their cellphones to contact their parents and tell them about the crash, while authorities established a process to reunite the remaining students with their families.
Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Frederick Heid said the district regularly conducts emergency evacuation drills with students, including exercises designed to prepare them for a serious bus accident.
Heid said that preparation may have helped prevent an already devastating crash from becoming even worse.
“We are very, very fortunate today that more students were not seriously injured, including the driver,” he said.
The condition of the overturned bus demonstrated just how severe the collision had been.
School Board Chairman Justin Sharpless asked the community to support the family of the student who died, along with classmates, teachers, bus staff and others affected by the tragedy.
“There are really no words that can take away the pain of losing a young person,” he said. My Plainview
Lucerne Park Road was shut down in both directions between Old Lucerne Park Road and the Walmart Distribution Center as investigators processed the sprawling crash scene.
The collision involved four vehicles in total, according to authorities.
Traffic homicide investigators are now reviewing video, examining the vehicles and gathering evidence to determine what caused the Malibu to cross the center line.
No criminal charges had been announced as of Monday morning, and Judd stressed that investigators were still working with preliminary information.
Officials are expected to provide another update as the investigation progresses and additional details about the victims and injured students become available. ABC News
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