8 Manslaughter Charges Filed In FL Bus Crash: 8 Dead, 45 Workers Hurt

Updated at 6:13 p.m.

MARION COUNTY, FL — The driver of a pickup truck that sideswiped a bus, causing a crash that killed eight people and injured dozens, has been arrested on multiple manslaughter charges, Florida officials said late Tuesday afternoon.

The bus was transporting 53 workers to a farm when it crashed about 6:35 a.m. Tuesday at West Highway 40 in Marion County north of Orlando, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The crash happened after the 2010 International Bus was sideswiped by a 2001 Ford Ranger pickup truck, sending the bus through a fence and causing it to overturn after hitting a tree.

State troopers arrested Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, of Ocala, the driver of the Ford Ranger truck, on eight counts of driving under the influence – manslaughter, according to a statement from Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner.

Identities of the dead will be released pending next of kin notification, authorities said.

"Our sympathies and prayers are with the families of the deceased," Kerner said.

Investigators said about 40 people have been taken to local medical facilities. Eight of the people taken to the hospital were in critical condition while 30 had non-life threatening injuries, according to officials.

Authorities said the crash prompted the temporary closure of West Highway 40 from Southwest 180th Avenue to Southwest 140th Avenue.

The Associated Press reported the bus swerved off a road, crashed through a fence and stopped on its side in a field. The farm workers were en route to Cannon Farms in Dunellon, which has been harvesting watermelons.

AdventHealth Ocala was treating 16 patients involved in the crash, with 12 of those in their main emergency department, the hospital said about noon Tuesday, according to FOX 13 in Tampa.

The hospital's chief medical officer, Dr. Rodrigo Torres, said in a statement: "Our prayers are with all those affected by the tragic bus accident in Ocala this morning. AdventHealth is currently treating 16 patients, with 12 in our main emergency department at AdventHealth Ocala and four at AdventHealth Timber Ridge ER."

Florida Highway Patrol Public Affairs Officer Lt. Patrick Riordan told FOX 13 some of the injured are in very serious condition. "So, there's high probability this may be beyond eight fatalities," he said.

Shortly after news of the crash broke, Cannon Farms released the following statement:

“We 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. Please pray with us for the families and the loved ones involved in this tragic accident. We appreciate your understanding at this difficult time.”

Cannon Farms describes itself as a family owned commercial farming operation in business for more than 100 years, focusing now on peanuts and watermelons, which it sends to grocery stores across the U.S. and Canada.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office said a Marion County Public Schools bus was not involved in the crash.

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods noted at a news conference the unity between agencies while responding to the deadly crash.

"This is what you need to know ... is when we come together because of this tragedy of individuals here in my county that we work together," he said. "There were 30-plus ambulances here on the scene to get these people the help that they needed."

Woods said his heart goes out to the families of those who died.

"I've worked many fatalities in my career, and this is the death that you do not expect from your family members. This is the death that is a shock to you, and it's going to be hard on them; and rightfully so, because they just lost a loved one," he said.

"My heart goes out to them. I pray that the good Lord will give them whatever that He can to make them through this - and hopefully, and I'm confident we will have answers for the families to be able to give them closure of why we had this crash today."

It wasn’t immediately clear if the workers who were on the bus are migrants, but a Department of Labor document shows Olvera Trucking Harvesting Corp. recently applied for 43 H-2A workers to harvest watermelons at Cannon Farms in May, AP reported. The company again offered a base rate of $14.77 an hour, with promises of housing and transportation to and from the fields.

The H-2A program allows U.S. employers or agents who meet certain regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals into the country to fill temporary agricultural jobs.

Florida farms employ more H-2A workers than any other state, about 50,000 a year, according to the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.

Woods said Marion is the fifth-largest Florida county and agriculture is significantly present in the county.