COUNTY LIVE IN ORLANDO, CHRISTINA WATKINS WESH TWO NEWS. WESH TWO INVESTIGATES IS LEARNING MORE ABOUT A DEADLY CRASH INVOLVING A SCHOOL BUS. THE ELDERLY MAN DRIVING A PICKUP TRUCK WAS KILLED. WESH TWO NEWS HAS OBTAINED EXCLUSIVE VIDEO OF THE RESCUE ATTEMPT. THIS ALL HAPPENED ALONG HIGHWAY 40 NEAR SILVER SPRINGS, ABOUT 30 MINUTES FROM THE SCHOOL. THE BUS CAME FROM WESH 2’S GREG FOX AT MAPLEWOOD ELEMENTARY, GREG THEY HAVE COUNSELORS ON HAND TODAY. THEY DO, AND THEY MAY HAVE THEM TOMORROW AS WELL. YOU HAD FOUR STUDENTS ON THAT BUS THAT ATTEND THIS SCHOOL IN OCALA, AND THEY MAY HAVE BEEN TRAUMATIZED BY SEEING THAT RESCUE ATTEMPT ON THE MAN WHO WAS DRIVING THAT TRUCK. IT’S TRAGIC THAT THIS IS VIDEO JUST MINUTES AFTER WEDNESDAY’S CRASH, INVOLVING A SCHOOL BUS AND A PICKUP NEAR SILVER SPRINGS. YOU CAN SEE FIRE AND RESCUE TEAMS WORKING TO FREE THE TRUCK DRIVER. THEY HAD, LIKE THE JAWS OF LIFE AND ALL THAT, AND THERE WAS PROBABLY, I DON’T KNOW, 12, 13 FIREFIGHTERS, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO EXTRACT THEM OUT. SO BUT THEY GOT HIM. DAVID HOUDEK LIVES NEAR THE INTERSECTION AND PROVIDED US THAT VIDEO. HE WAS SADDENED TO LEARN THE 76 YEAR OLD PICKUP DRIVER DID NOT SURVIVE. ACCORDING TO THE FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL, THE PICKUP TRUCK WAS TRAVELING IN THIS DIRECTION ON HIGHWAY 40, AND AT THE TIME, THE SCHOOL BUS WAS SITTING RIGHT HERE ABOUT TO MAKE A LEFT TURN ONTO SOUTHEAST 177TH AVENUE. WHEN THE TWO COLLIDED AND THE OTHER BUS CAME HERE AND PINNED THIS MAN HERE. KRISTEN CONNOLLY AND HER MOTHER WERE BEHIND THE SCHOOL BUS WHEN SHE SAYS THE BUS DRIVER SUDDENLY PULLED INTO THE PATH OF THE ONCOMING TRUCK, CAUSING THE CRASH, FHP REPORT SAYS THE BUS DRIVER FAILED TO YIELD THE RIGHT OF WAY, TOUCHING OFF A SCRAMBLE BY OTHER DRIVERS WHO PULLED OVER TO TRY AND GET TO THE TRUCK DRIVER. AND THEN HE JUST KEPT ASKING AGAIN, JUST HELP. HELP GET ME OUT. AND THEN I SAW HIS FACE AND I TOLD HIM, SIR, WHERE HELP IS ON THE WAY. WE PHYSICALLY CANNOT REMOVE YOU FROM THIS VEHICLE, BUT HELP IS COMING. THE FOUR STUDENTS, AGES 5 TO 10 FROM MAPLEWOOD ELEMENTARY IN OCALA, ALONG WITH A SCHOOL AIDE AND THE BUS DRIVER, WERE NOT HURT. A SPOKESPERSON FOR MARION COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS TELLS US THE THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS OF OUR ENTIRE DISTRICT ARE WITH THE VICTIM’S FAMILY. THE LIVES OF EVERYONE INVOLVED ARE FOREVER CHANGED. THE BUS DRIVER, AN 11 YEAR VETERAN FOR OUR DISTRICT, IS NO LONGER BEHIND THE WHEEL. A NORMAL STEP IN SITUATIONS LIKE THIS. WE WILL AWAIT FHS FINAL CRASH REPORT TO DETERMINE ANY DISCIPLINARY CONSIDERATIONS. A SECOND SCHOOL BUS AT THE INTERSECTION WAS NOT INVOLVED IN THE CRASH, AND AGAIN, COUNSELORS MAY BE AT MAPLEWOOD ELEMENTARY HERE TOMORROW IF NEEDED. AS FAR AS THE TIME FRAME ON THIS INVESTIGATION, A AN INITIAL CRASH REPORT SHOULD BE DONE IN THE NEXT 5 TO 10 DAYS. THEN AFTER THAT, IT COULD BE MONTHS BEFORE THERE’S A FINAL CRAS
Video shows heroic rescue attempt following fatal school bus crash in Marion County
Updated: 6:02 PM EDT May 7, 2026
“It’s a tragedy itself,” said David Jauregui, who lives just a few yards from the site of Wednesday’s fatal school bus crash near Silver Springs in Marion County. He provided WESH 2 with cellphone video showing a large team of fire and rescue personnel, working frantically to extract and rescue a 76-year-old man from his pickup truck, which had just collided with the school bus.“They had the Jaws of Life and all that and there were probably I don’t know, 12 or 13 firefighters trying to extract him out so, but they got him,” Jauregui added.He was saddened to learn the elderly driver did not survive, despite the efforts of doctors after being rushed to a hospital. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the pickup truck was traveling east on Highway 40, and at the time, the school bus was to take a left turn onto Southeast 177th Avenue when the two collided. Kristen Cornely and her mother were behind the school bus when she says the bus driver suddenly pulled into the path of the oncoming truck, causing the crash. FHP ‘s report says the bus driver “failed to yield the right of way…” touching off a scramble by other drivers who pulled over, to try and get to the truck driver. Cornely added, “And he just kept asking again just help, help get me out. And I looked at his face and told him, ‘sir, help is on the way’ and we just cannot physically remove you from this vehicle but help is coming.” The four students, ages five to 10 from Maplewood Elementary in Ocala, along with a school aide and the bus driver, were not hurt. A spokesperson for Marion County Public Schools tells us, “The thoughts and prayers of our entire district are with the victim’s family. The lives of everyone involved are forever changed. The bus driver, an 11-year veteran driver for our district, is no longer behind the wheel, a normal step in situations like this. We will await FHP’s final crash report to determine any disciplinary considerations.” A second school bus at the intersection was not involved in the crash.
MARION COUNTY, Fla. —
“It’s a tragedy itself,” said David Jauregui, who lives just a few yards from the site of Wednesday’s fatal school bus crash near Silver Springs in Marion County.
He provided WESH 2 with cellphone video showing a large team of fire and rescue personnel, working frantically to extract and rescue a 76-year-old man from his pickup truck, which had just collided with the school bus.
“They had the Jaws of Life and all that and there were probably I don’t know, 12 or 13 firefighters trying to extract him out so, but they got him,” Jauregui added.
He was saddened to learn the elderly driver did not survive, despite the efforts of doctors after being rushed to a hospital.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the pickup truck was traveling east on Highway 40, and at the time, the school bus was to take a left turn onto Southeast 177th Avenue when the two collided.
Kristen Cornely and her mother were behind the school bus when she says the bus driver suddenly pulled into the path of the oncoming truck, causing the crash.
FHP ‘s report says the bus driver “failed to yield the right of way…” touching off a scramble by other drivers who pulled over, to try and get to the truck driver.
Cornely added, “And he just kept asking again just help, help get me out. And I looked at his face and told him, ‘sir, help is on the way’ and we just cannot physically remove you from this vehicle but help is coming.”
The four students, ages five to 10 from Maplewood Elementary in Ocala, along with a school aide and the bus driver, were not hurt.
A spokesperson for Marion County Public Schools tells us, “The thoughts and prayers of our entire district are with the victim’s family. The lives of everyone involved are forever changed. The bus driver, an 11-year veteran driver for our district, is no longer behind the wheel, a normal step in situations like this. We will await FHP’s final crash report to determine any disciplinary considerations.”
A second school bus at the intersection was not involved in the crash.