8 dead, 40 injured in pickup’s crash with trucking company’s bus

Eight people are dead and 40 injured in a crash involving a bus and a pickup truck in central Florida on Tuesday morning. 

The accident happened on May 14th on State Road 40, west of SW 148 Court at 6:35 a.m. in Marion County. 

According to NBC, a retired school bus was transporting farm workers employed by the Olvera Trucking Harvesting Corp. to Cannon farms when an eastbound Ford pickup truck “traveled toward the centerline… For unknown reasons.”

The collision caused the westbound bus to veer off the road, crash through a fence, hit a tree, and overturn. the more than 40 injured have been hospitalized as a result of the crash, eight of them critically injured. The pickup truck driver is among those critically injured. Eight people have died as a result of the crash, and officials say that there is a “high probability” more will succumb to their injuries. 

“At this point, we are conducting a massive traffic homicide investigation,” said Lt. Pat Riordan of the Florida Highway Patrol. The reason for the crash has not been determined, but investigators say weather will be considered as a factor, as rain was reported in the area. 

Cannon Farms, where the workers were heading, has announced that they will be closed today  “out of respect to the losses and injuries endured early this morning in the accident that took place to the Olvera Trucking Harvesting Corp.”

SR 40 has been shut down in both directions for investigation of the accident. 

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods described the workers as migrants and “hard working individuals.”