FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A bus carrying farm workers to a watermelon field in central Florida was struck by a drunk driver and overturned in a field, killing eight people and injuring dozens of others, authorities said.
The man accused of causing Tuesday’s crash has a long driver’s license and is being held in jail without bond.
The farm workers came from Mexico and worked on seasonal or temporary visas. Authorities have not yet released their names.
Here’s what you need to know about the crash.
Around 6:40 a.m. Tuesday, a 2001 Ford Ranger driven by 41-year-old Bryan Howard crossed the center line of State Road 40 and drove a bus carrying 53 farm workers into a watermelon field at Cannon Farms in Dunnellon. The bus went off the two-lane road that runs past horse farms, hit a tree and rolled over.
The crash happened about 80 miles north of Orlando.
All eight deaths came to the U.S. from Mexico on H-2A farmworker visas, officials said.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday morning that 44 Mexican citizens were on the bus, hired by a Mexican-American farmer to work at the watermelon farm on temporary or seasonal visas. The Mexican government later said six of the injured were in serious condition and three others were in critical condition.
Lucas Benitez, co-founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, said Wednesday that it learned from the Mexican consulate that the farm workers killed were from at least five different states in Mexico.
Authorities had not released their names as of Wednesday afternoon, pending notification of their relatives. Meanwhile, the Mexican Consulate in Orlando was providing support at AdventHealth Ocala Hospital, where many of the injured were taken.
Andres Sequera, director of mission and ministry at AdventHealth Hospitals, said chaplains visited the injured workers and that they were “good-humored about what they experienced.”
According to the Florida Fruit organization, farms across Florida employ approximately 50,000 H-2A workers annually, more than any other state. & Vegetable Association.
The workers travel to Florida on seasonal or temporary visas to harvest fruits and vegetables from the farm.
These workers were located in Marion County, in north-central Florida. The county is best known for its rolling landscape, which stands out from much of the state’s typically flat geography. Thoroughbred horse farms are common in the hills outside Ocala, the largest city in the region. Interstate 75 also cuts through Marion County.
Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, was arrested hours after Tuesday’s crash and was being held without bond in Ocala on Wednesday.
During a brief court appearance on Wednesday morning, Howard pleaded not guilty to drunken driving and manslaughter in the deaths of eight farm workers.
Court documents detailing the substance Howard allegedly ingested remained sealed Wednesday afternoon.
But on Wednesday he told a judge via teleconference from jail that he is a self-employed painter and drywall installer with $700 in the bank, no other assets and no dependents.
Howard’s head was bandaged and he was wearing a protective gown normally given to inmates on suicide watch. The judge denied bail, appointed a public defender and set his next court appearance for next month. The public defender’s office declined to comment on the case.
Marion County court records show Howard has had at least three accidents and numerous traffic tickets dating back to 2006. He has previously been cited for crossing the center line, and his driver’s license has been suspended at least three times, most recently in 2021 for being too drove fast. many quotes within a year.
In 2013, he was convicted of grand theft. A year later, his probation was revoked after he tested positive for cocaine.
Howard’s next court appearance is scheduled for June.
A memorial service for the victims is planned for 6:00 PM EDT in Apopka, Florida, north of Orlando.
