Death toll drops to 4 in Florida bus crash

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., July 3 (UPI) -- The death toll to a fiery bus and tractor-trailer along Coastal Highway 98 on Saturday was miscounted and has actually dropped from five to four, officials said Sunday.

Officials mistakenly thought a patient in critical condition had died, police said.

The chaos at the scene and large number of victims -- 25 on Saturday, while 20 remain hospitalized -- caused the miscount, police said.

"There was a lot of confusion when the call came out," said Sgt. Josue Mora, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman.

Multiple first-response agency and hospital communication presented a "challenge", Mora said.

The crash occurred about 5 a.m. Saturday when a school bus carrying 35 Haitian migrant workers and their families appeared to roll through a blinking red light on Coastal Highway 98 and smash into a semi. Both vehicles burst into flames on impact.

Residents said the intersection is notorious for accidents.

Semi-truck driver, Gordon Sheets, 55, was killed in the crash. Two other fatalities have not been identified. Bus driver Elie Dupiche, 56, has been upgraded from critical condition to serious, according to an updated FHP report Sunday morning.

Firefighters said it took them several hours to extinguish the blaze at the scene.

"I've gotta give praise to our deputies, they went on this bus and started pulling people off before the bus became fully involved," Creel told WCTV. "We would have had more if it hadn't been for the efforts of our deputies."