‘DUI’ Tragedy! Driver Arrested After Collision With Migrant Worker Bus Claims 8 Lives

DEBARYLIFE – The driver of a pickup truck that collided with a bus carrying numerous migrant workers early on Tuesday has been detained by Florida authorities. The collision claimed eight lives and sent over forty more people to local hospitals.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports that Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, was charged with eight counts of D.U.I. manslaughter.

Around 6:30 a.m., Lt. Patrick Riordan stated at a press conference that the bus, which was carrying about 53 agricultural labourers, was travelling down a roadway in north-central Florida when an oncoming 2001 Ford Ranger “travelled towards the centre line” of the road “for unknown reasons.”

Riordan described the collision as “a sideswipe manner.” The bus veered off the road, struck a tree, went through a fence, and overturned. Shortly later, eight persons were declared dead and 45 more injured—eight of them critically—were sent to the hospital.

“There will likely be more than eight fatalities,” Riordan stated. Although he was hurt on Tuesday night, Howard’s status was not immediately known.

The identities of the victims were withheld by Florida officials until after notification of the next of kin was completed, a process they claimed was complicated by the workers’ foreign nationalities. Mexico’s minister of international relations, Alicia Bárcena, revealed on social media that some of the passengers on the bus were citizens of Mexico.

SEE MORE – “Big End!” Colombian Homicide Suspect Apprehended In Pittsfield, 2014 Case Closed

When a reporter questioned Marion County Sheriff Billy Gates about the workers’ legal status in the country, Gates replied that they were allowed to be there. He clarified that it was usual for migrants to come to the county in the spring to gather food, saying, “They are hardworking individuals and there is absolutely nothing wrong with them being here.”

The bus passengers were being transported to a watermelon field to start the workday, according to a local station WCJB, which cited Florida state troopers in its report. A family-run farm located about an hour south of Gainesville, Cannon Farms, announced on Tuesday that it would be closing “out of respect to the losses and injuries endured early this morning.”

Seatbelt laws and other mandatory safety precautions for the transportation of labourers are frequently broken, sometimes with fatal results. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bureau of Labour Statistics, transport accidents accounted for the majority of deaths among agricultural workers in 2021.

If the Florida bus passengers had been using seatbelts at the time of the collision, it was not immediately evident.

By Tuesday night, the Farmworker Association of Florida’s GoFundMe had raised over $20,000 of the $50,000 target, providing financial support for the victims and their families.

The fundraiser page stated, “Farmworkers tend to be forgotten, but it’s important not to forget farmworkers, especially during such difficult times.”