Two people, including a 10th-grade girl, were killed and several others injured Monday when a school bus overturned onto its roof in a multi-vehicle crash in Florida, police said.The bus was headed to Winter Haven High School shortly after 6 a.m. with 39 people aboard — 37 students, the driver and the driver’s daughter — when an oncoming white Chevy Malibu crossed the center line, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.Judd said during a news conference that the Malibu struck the bus near its rear wheels, ripping off a tire and sending the bus into a head-on collision with a Jeep that caught fire. The Jeep’s driver was killed.
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (TNND) —
In this photo provided by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, emergency personnel respond to an accident involving a school bus in Winter Haven, Fla., on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (Polk County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
“It was a horrible crash,” Judd said. “It was a terrible, tragic morning. We had a beautiful 10th grade girl lose her life.”Officials said five to seven people were taken to the hospital with potentially traumatic injuries, including one person in critical condition.Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Frederick Heid said students are taught how to evacuate a bus during an emergency.“This event could have been far worse,” Heid said, standing near the bus, which came to rest upside down in a ditch. “You can see the condition of the bus; you can see its current positioning.”Judd said the investigation remains preliminary and that authorities expect to release more details at another news conference Tuesday.