A Florida school bus was involved in a deadly multi-vehicle collision in Polk County on Monday morning, leaving two people dead—including a high school student—and several others injured.
The crash involved the bus and three other vehicles, with multiple victims taken to area hospitals. During a Monday news conference, authorities confirmed the two fatalities and reported that one injured person remained in critical condition.
Officials have not released the name of the tenth-grade Winter Haven High School student who died. The second victim was traveling in a silver Jeep that collided with the school bus.
Authorities in Polk County, Florida, respond to a fatal crash involving a school bus on Monday, October 5, 2026. (WTVT)
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the collision happened at about 6:15 a.m. on a two-lane roadway. A white Chevy Malibu crossed the center line into oncoming traffic and struck the school bus near its rear wheels, tearing away one of the bus’s tires.
The impact sent the bus into the opposite lane, where it crashed head-on into the silver Jeep.
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“It was a horrible crash,” Judd said at the news conference. “It was a terrible, tragic morning. We had a beautiful tenth grade girl lose her life.”
Polk County Sheriff Brady Judd holds a press conference after a fatal crash involving a school bus on October 5, 2026. (WTVT)
The school bus was carrying 37 students, along with the driver and the driver’s 9-year-old daughter, when the crash occurred, according to police.
Judd said between five and seven people were taken to nearby hospitals under “trauma alerts,” with one patient listed in critical condition. The injured were transported by helicopter, ambulance and private vehicles, he said.
The driver of the Chevy Malibu is cooperating with investigators and told authorities they were heading to work. No arrest has been made.