FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A bus carrying farmworkers to a watermelon field in central Florida was sideswiped 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 lengthy driving record and is being held in jail without bond.
Recommended Videos
The farmworkers were from Mexico, working on seasonal or temporary visas. Some of their names were released Wednesday afternoon.
Here’s what to know about the crash.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Around 6:40 a.m. on Tuesday, a 2001 Ford Ranger driven by Bryan Howard, 41, crossed the center line of State Road 40 and sideswiped a bus carrying 53 farmworkers to a watermelon patch at Cannon Farms in Dunnellon. The bus veered off the two-lane road that passes through horse farms, hit a tree and rolled over.
The crash happened about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Orlando.
WHO ARE THE VICTIMS?
All eight people killed were in 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 on the watermelon farm under temporary or seasonal visas. Mexico’s government later said six of the injured were in serious condition and three more were in critical condition.
Lucas Benitez, the co-founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, said Wednesday that it learned from the Mexican consulate that the farmworkers who were killed were from at least five different states in Mexico.
Six of the dead have been identified: Evarado Ventura Hernández, 30; Cristian Salazar Villeda, 24; Alfredo Tovar Sánchez, 20; Isaías Miranda Pascal, 21; José Heriberto Fraga Acosta, 27; and Manuel Pérez Ríos, 46.
Gamaliel Marcel, of Tallahassee, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he and Salazar Villeda were childhood friends in Mexico. Salazar Villeda got married in March and the couple had a 5-year-old daughter, Marcel added.
“I feel so bad, especially because I knew him my whole life,” he said. “He was always the most respectful but brought out a smile when you needed it.”
Evarado Ventura Hernández's mother, Rosalina Hernández Martínez, said Wednesday that her son had told her the work he did on Florida farms was “very hard,” but that he was happy.
“It hurts,” she said. “A piece of my heart is gone.”
The Mexican consulate in Orlando was providing support at the AdventHealth Ocala hospital, where many of the injured were taken.
Andres Sequera, a director of mission and ministry for AdventHealth hospitals, said chaplains were visiting the injured workers, and that they “were in good spirits for what they have been through.”
WHY WERE THE WORKERS IN FLORIDA?
Farms across Florida use about 50,000 H-2A workers each year, more than any other state, according to the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.
The workers travel to Florida on seasonal or temporary visas to harvest farm fruits and vegetables.
These workers were in Marion County, which is in the north-central part of Florida. The county is best known for its rolling countryside, which stands out from much of the state's typical flat geography. Thoroughbred horse farms are common in the hills outside of Ocala, which is the largest city in the region. Interstate 75 also cuts through Marion County.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE DRIVER ACCUSED IN THE CRASH?
Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, was arrested hours after the crash and remained jailed without bond in Ocala.
At a brief court appearance on Wednesday morning, Howard pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence-manslaughter charges in the deaths of eight farmworkers. He spoke by teleconference from jail.
An arrest report said Howard had bloodshot and watery eyes and slurred speech after the crash, which he told Florida Highway Patrol troopers he didn’t remember.
Howard also told investigators he had crashed his mother’s car into a tree a few days earlier while avoiding an animal. The report said Howard had smoked marijuana oil and took his prescribed medications before bed — two anti-seizure drugs and another for high blood pressure. Five hours later, he was driving to a methadone clinic where he receives daily medication for a chipped vertebra.
Troopers had arrested Howard after he failed several sobriety tests.
Howard told the judge he's a self-employed painter and drywall installer. He said he had $700 in the bank, no other assets and no dependents.
On Wednesday, his head was bandaged and he wore a protective gown typically given to inmates on suicide watch. The judge denied bond, appointed a public defender and set his next court appearance for next month. The public defender's office declined to comment about the case.
Marion County court records show Howard has had at least three crashes and numerous traffic tickets dating back to 2006. He was cited previously for crossing the center line, and his driver's license has been suspended at least three times, the latest in 2021 for getting too many citations within a year.
In 2013, he was convicted of grand theft. A year later, his probation was revoked after he tested positive for cocaine.
WHAT'S NEXT?
A memorial service for the victims was held Wednesday evening outside the Farmworker Association of Florida office north of Orlando in Apopka. About two dozen people gathered, some holding white crosses with the names of the people killed, and sang songs in Spanish.
“They were here to do honest work,” Jeannie Economos, an official with the Farmworker Association of Florida, said of the farmworkers. “Agricultural work is hard. They came here to work hard to support themselves and their families back in their home country.”
___
AP reporters Adriana Gómez Licón in Miami, Mike Schneider in Apopka, and AP stringer José María Álvarez in Miahuatlan, Mexico, in southern Oaxaca state, contributed.