At least one person was killed, two were trauma alerted, and over a dozen inmates were injured after a car attempted to pass another vehicle on State Road 60 and collided head-on with a box-truck and a bus that was carrying inmates from a correctional facility.
According to the Osceola County Fire Rescue and EMS, the incident took place at around 6:16 a.m. this morning along SR 60 in Kenansville, near the road’s intersection with Peavine Road just west of Yeehaw Junction.
Florida Highway Patrol authorities say that a 2017 Dodge Ram being driven by a 54-year-old Port Saint Lucie man was traveling westbound on State Road 60, west of Peavine Road, when it attempted to pass a vehicle in a passing zone.
Witnesses say that the Dodge entered the eastbound lane, directly in the path of a 2007 Mitsubishi truck being driven by a 43-year-old man from Brandon.
Both drivers attempted to swerve to avoid a crash, but were unable to. As a result, the vehicles collided head-on.
A third vehicle, a 2015 motor coach, was traveling behind the box truck and was unable to stop in time. That vehicle, which was being driven by a 69-year-old Lakeland man, was carrying 23 inmates from a Polk County Correctional Facility.
The drivers of the Dodge Ram and the box truck were airlifted to Osceola Regional Hospital with critical injuries. Authorities say they are both in stable condition.
A passenger in the Dodge Ram, a 52-year-old man from Port Saint Lucie, was pronounced deceased on the scene.
Of the 23 inmates who were traveling to their work-release program in Okeechobee, 14 were transported to various hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers are currently stationed with the inmates at various hospitals until they are released to the Department of Corrections.
The road remains closed in both directions west of the Florida Turnpike at this time.