TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Charred rubble, personal effects and bloody medical gear littered the side of Coastal Highway 98 in Wakulla after five people, including one child, died in an early-morning crash Saturday.
The fire-gutted frame was all that remained of a refurbished school bus, carrying as many as 35 Haitian migrant workers and their families. The semi-truck that the bus hit was also destroyed.
The truck disintegrated on impact at the blinking red light that leads south to the city of St. Marks.
Florida Highway Patrol investigators say the southbound bus did not stop for the light, hit the truck that was heading west, and then slammed into a power pole at around 5 a.m. ET. Skid marks just feet from the intersection indicate the semi-truck braked seconds before impact.
Live electrical wires were knocked to the ground as fire began to engulf both vehicles, making it hard for emergency responders to access the passengers or start spraying water to extinguish the flames.
Arriving Wakulla County Sheriff’s deputies pulled two deceased people from the bus as the wires arced and continued to pull injured passengers from the burning vehicle.
FHP identified 56-year-old Elie Dupiche of Belle Glade as the driver of the 1979 Blue Bird bus. Gordon A. Sheets, 55, of Copiague, N.Y., was the driver of the 2005 Freightliner semi truck. Sheets had one passenger, Rafael Nieves, 21, of Sound Beach, N.Y.
Dupiche was in critical condition Saturday afternoon at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. Sheets died as a result of his injuries. Nieves was uninjured.
Wakulla Sheriff Charlie Creel said four of the dead died on the scene and the other died at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. He estimated that between seven and 10 of the bus passengers were still in serious condition.
TMH spokesman Warren Jones said 18 people were taken to the hospital.
The Haitian migrant farm workers from Bainbridge, Ga., were headed south to Belle Glade for a few weeks of work before returning north.
The bus left around 4 a.m., said Saintervil Amilcar, who rushed to the small coastal community from Bainbridge when he heard of the crash.
His aunt was on the bus, but Saturday morning he was unsure of her condition.
“Some people said my auntie died. I don’t know,” he said as smoke continued to pour from the repainted school bus and firefighters battled the remaining small blazes.
Amilcar is a migrant worker who said another bus was supposed to accompany the one involved in the crash. He said they may have been lost and he had a bad feeling about the route they were taking.
“I told them don’t go through Tallahassee,” Amilcar said as he paced near the wreckage. “If you go there you’re going to have problems. But they didn’t listen and I don’t know if they’re lost but look at what happened. God talked to me.”
Creel, who worked as an FHP trooper for years, said the crash was one of the worst he’d seen in his career and certainly the worst in Wakulla County.
He praised the quick action of first responders — a dozen different agencies and organizations assisted — who saved lives with their expedient work.
“If not for them and the troopers and firefighters, we would have more fatalities than we had,” Creel said. “Wakulla County sheriff’s deputies are heroes. I’ve never seen anything of this magnitude in Wakulla County.”
There are rumble strips leading up to the flashing light, which has a red signal for motorists heading north and south and a yellow signal for those traveling east and west.
The manager of an Exxon gas station at the intersection said she has seen several car wrecks and just as many people run the red light in her 10 years there. She, too, said this was the worst wreck at the intersection she had seen.
The crash cut the coastal town of St. Marks off during the busy Fourth of July weekend.
FHP Capt. Jeffrey Bissainthe said several people fled the scene of the crash and have not been located.
Traffic homicide investigators remained on the scene throughout the day taking measurements and reviewing video footage from a bank and the Exxon station.
“We’re not sure what caused this traffic crash,” Bissainthe said. “But you need to keep your hands on the wheel, eyes on the road and your mind on driving, so don’t drive distracted and pay attention, especially during this holiday weekend.
“Whenever you have a fatality, especially involving a child, it’s bad. The amount of people that’s involved in this crash, it’s very bad.”
Follow Karl Etters on Twitter: @KarlEtters
