All photos by AP Photo/Alan Youngblood
A bus traveling about 80 miles north of Orlando collided with a pickup truck, killing eight people and injuring about 40 passengers onboard. The bus, transporting 53 farmworkers to Cannon Farms in Dunnellon, swerved off State Road 40, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Horrifying photos below show the bus overturned on its side with both of its emergency rear doors and top hatch open. The truck that it collided with showed severe damage to its driver’s side. AP reports that vehicle crashes are the leading cause of job-related deaths among farmworkers in 2022.
Florida Highway Patrol Public Affairs Officer Lt. Patrick Riordan told the media some of the injured are in very serious condition. “So, there’s a high probability this may be beyond eight fatalities,” he said.
Eight of the people taken to the hospital were in critical condition, while 30 had non-life-threatening injuries, according to officials.