A school bus rolled over on its roof in a crash involving multiple vehicles in Central Florida on Monday morning, killing two people, including a high school student. Several others were injured, the authorities said.
Just before 6:15 a.m., the bus was headed eastbound on Lucerne Park Road to Winter Haven High School when a Chevrolet sedan veered across the center line and hit the bus’s rear wheels, Sheriff Grady Judd of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said at a news conference on Monday.
The collision tore a tire off the bus, which then careened into an oncoming silver Jeep, which caught on fire.
“It was a horrible crash,” Sheriff Judd said. Four vehicles, including the bus, were involved.
The crash killed a 10th-grade girl who was on the bus, and one person in the jeep died, Sheriff Judd said. Their names were not immediately released on Monday.
The authorities did not say what caused the sedan to drift over the center line, the sheriff said. The crash was under investigation.
Video from local TV outlets showed the bus overturned on the side of the road, which was expected to be closed in both directions for most of Monday for the investigation, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Five to seven people had injuries that necessitated taking them to area hospitals in ambulances, helicopters and other vehicles, Sheriff Judd said. One person was in critical condition.
Two local hospitals, AdventHealth Heart of Florida in Davenport and Lakeland Regional Health, each said their hospitals received 10 patients who were later released on Monday. The patient in critical condition was at Lakeland Regional Health.
The bus was carrying 39 people, including 37 students, to Winter Haven, a public high school in Winter Haven, Fla., which is about 50 miles southwest of Orlando.
The driver’s 9-year-old daughter was also on the bus. Winter Haven High School has more than 2,400 students, according to the school.
“We are very, very fortunate today that more students were not seriously injured, including the driver,” Frederick Heid, superintendent of the school district, said at the news conference.
More than 100 emergency responders were deployed to the scene, where they helped parents reunite with their children.
“I think this is the most horrific bus tragedy we’ve had in decades, as far back as I can remember,” Sheriff Judd said.
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