School bus carrying students plunges into Orange County swimming pool

Bus driver, 9 children uninjured in wreck; driver of Jeep taken to hospital

PINE HILLS, Fla. – A school bus carrying students plunged into a backyard swimming pool Friday morning in Orange County, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The crash happened near Willowwood Street and Rushwood Court in Pine Hills.

"(It) made a real loud bang," neighbor Bill Varhol said.

Orange County Fire Rescue said the bus, carrying nine students to Magnolia School, and a Jeep were involved in a crash. The bus traveled into a yard and through a fence before nosediving into the pool.

The school bus driver told troopers the Jeep swerved to avoid a dead cat in the road, prompting the bus to drive off the road.

The bus driver and nine children were not injured, rescue crews said. Officials said the homeowner helped rescue the bus' occupants, including the driver.

[PHOTOS: School bus nosedives into backyard swimming pool]

Fire Rescue tweeted that the driver of the Jeep suffered non-serious injuries. She was taken to a hospital, officials said. The three children in the Jeep suffered minor injuries but were not transported for further treatment, according to the crash report.

The driver of the Jeep told troopers a different story of how the crash happened. She said the school bus was driving around a pickup truck parked on the side of the road, when the school bus veered across the double yellow lane into the eastbound lane.

"On a road with a double yellow line, if there is an obstruction, such as a parked car, you are allowed to go around and cross over," Lt. Kim Montes said. "However, you cannot effect traffic coming the opposite way." 

Troopers plan to review surveillance video from on board the school bus to help determine an official cause to the crash.

A school bus crashes into a backyard swimming pool in Orange County.

Magnolia is a school for children with special needs, officials said. Orange County Public Schools said the students' parents were notified of the crash and the students were picked up by another bus and taken to the school.

Video from News 6 helicopter Sky 6 showed the front half of an Orange District Schools bus in the water. A portion of a wooden fence surrounding the yard is broken and lying on the ground.

A hazmat team was called to the home because fuel leaked into the pool, officials said.

No other details have been released.

A school bus plunges into an Orange County swimming pool.

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About the Authors:

Daniel started with WKMG-TV in 2000 and became the digital content manager in 2009. When he's not working on ClickOrlando.com, Daniel likes to head to the beach or find a sporting event nearby.

It has been an absolute pleasure for Clay LePard living and working in Orlando since he joined News 6 in July 2017. Previously, Clay worked at WNEP TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he brought viewers along to witness everything from unprecedented access to the Tobyhanna Army Depot to an interview with convicted double-murderer Hugo Selenski.