WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has identified the student and Jeep driver killed in Monday morning’s school bus crash on Lucerne Park Road.
Adinaluz Prieto Oyola, 16, was a Winter Haven High School student aboard the bus. Deshawn Smith, 26, was driving the Jeep that collided with the bus and caught fire.
Both died at the scene.
Channel 9 previously reported that the crash sent dozens of people to hospitals. The bus carried 37 students, its driver and the driver’s 9-year-old daughter.
Investigators examine chain reaction
The crash happened around 6:13 a.m. Monday as the school bus traveled east on Lucerne Park Road.
According to the sheriff’s office, a westbound white Chevrolet Malibu crossed into the eastbound lane and struck the bus. The impact sent the bus into the westbound lane, where it collided head-on with Smith’s silver Jeep before overturning into a ditch.
Investigators have not determined why the Malibu crossed into the bus’s lane.
The sheriff’s office identified the Malibu driver as Maria Mandragon Jimenez, 23, and the school bus driver as Jessica Lynn Dye, 34.
Dozens taken to hospitals
In its Monday recap, the sheriff’s office said all 36 surviving students were taken to hospitals.
Three students were airlifted, seven were transported by ambulance and four were taken by family members. Another 22 traveled aboard a second school bus with a Polk County Fire Rescue paramedic attending to them.
Dye and her daughter were also taken to a hospital by ambulance.
Patients were treated at AdventHealth Heart of Florida, Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, Winter Haven Hospital and Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.
The sheriff’s office said Monday that most injured patients had been treated and released.
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