Florida pastor helping to ID farmworkers in fatal bus crash

The truck the 1979 bus hit disintegrated and killed its driver.

The truck disintegrated on impact at the blinking red light that leads south to the city of St. Marks.

Twenty-five others were injured in Saturday morning’s collision on the US-98 coastal highway in Wakulla County. The bus then collided with a westbound semi truck.

Both vehicles burst into flames after careening off the road and bringing down live electrical lines around them. Deputies began pulling people out of the burning bus and at least two deceased victims were pulled from the bus.

Creel said a small child from the bus and the driver of the tractor trailer, Gordon Sheets, 55 of Copiague, New York, died in the crash. An additional 12 people remained hospitalized Saturday night, three of them in critical condition. The sheriff said 25 more people were taken to the hospital.

Along with the four dead, 25 others were injured- most listed in serious or critical condition. He said the bus had left Bainbridge in south Georgia not far from the Florida Panhandle area and was bound for Belle Glade, Florida. Florida Highway Patrol Capt. Jeffrey Bissainthe says the bus was carrying between 30 and 35 passengers and was from Georgia.

The location of the pin on this map is where a bus crash was reported Saturday morning.

The bus, a converted school bus, is now a burned-out wreck on the roadside.

Guadard, the church’s pastor, said several people are in intensive care.

He praised the quick action of first responders – a dozen different agencies and organizations assisted – who saved lives with their expedient work.

The officers also pulled out two bodies before the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames and they were forced to retreat.

The Sheriff says this may be the worst crash that the county has had. “I’ve never seen anything of this magnitude in Wakulla County”.