Two people, including a 10th-grade girl, were killed Monday after a school bus crash in Winter Haven, Florida, that also left several others injured.
The crash happened shortly after 6 a.m. as a school bus carrying 39 people was heading to Winter Haven High School. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said an oncoming car crossed the center line and struck the side of the bus near the rear wheels.
The impact ripped a tire off the bus and sent it into a head-on collision with an oncoming Jeep, which caught fire. The school bus eventually overturned and came to rest on its roof in a ditch.
Aerial video taken by WESH-TV later Monday showed the extent of the crash, with the front of the school bus heavily damaged and the bus resting on its roof with what appeared to be one of its four rear tires missing.
One person inside the Jeep was killed. Sheriff Judd also confirmed that a 10th-grade student on the school bus died in the crash.
The bus was carrying 37 students, the driver and the driver’s daughter. Judd said first responders spent several hours treating and transporting people to hospitals, identifying those involved and reuniting students with their parents.
Five to 7 people were taken to hospitals with potentially traumatic injuries, and at least one person was in critical condition Monday morning.
“It was a horrible crash,” Judd said. “It was a terrible, tragic morning. We had a beautiful 10th grade girl lose her life.”
Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Frederick Heid said students regularly practice drills on how to exit a school bus involved in a crash and said the outcome could have been even worse given the condition of the bus.
Justin Sharpless, chairman of the Polk County school board, asked the community to support the student’s family, school and staff.
“There are really no words that can take away the pain of losing a young person,” Sharpless said.
Authorities have not released the identities of those who died or provided details about what caused the crash.