*WARNING: The video embedded in this article may be disturbing to some and also contains expletives.
MARION COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – The Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) has released two clips of video from the response to the deadly bus crash that provide insight into what first responders faced – the chaos of a mass casualty event.
The accident happened on State Road (SR) 40 in western Marion County around 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
The first video clip is dashcam video from MCSO Deputy Robert Bosnyak’s patrol vehicle. It shows the rapid response to the call for help. As the deputy races to the scene, he has to navigate around multiple vehicles on the two-lane rural road. Some motorists yield the way better than others.
As Dep. Bosnyak pulls up to the scene, you can see the wreckage of the bus after it crashed through a fence and overturned in a horse pasture. Multiple people, presumably some of the survivors of the crash are standing nearby.
Once Bosnyak is out of his patrol vehicle, you’re able to get a sense of the scope of the tragedy from the second video clip which is from his body-worn camera.
While the sheriff’s office edited the video to remove the most disturbing images, 352today has decided not to share the footage as it was released because you can see some of the people suffering from injuries. We’re doing this out of sensitivity to the bus crash survivors and the families of the victims. We have edited the video below.
From portions of video that we have edited out, you hear a dispatcher say there are 53 patients and 13 are critical.
Dep. Bosnyak radios to dispatch, “In reference to those 13 critical, they’re still going to be stuck inside the bus.”
Moments later he radios back requesting traffic assistance, “We need traffic units out here. We need to 40 shut down in both directions. They’re going to need to get multiple EMS vehicles in here.”
Bosnyak then heads out to the road and begins redirecting traffic.
“Turn around. Turn around. Go that way,” he gestures as he commands a driver in a pickup truck.
Drivers try to skirt the accident scene by driving off the pavement and into the grass.
“(Expletive!) Stop these (expletive) cars,” Bosnyak can be heard saying.
Bosnyak commands another driver to get out of the area.
Using hand signals and verbal commands, he tries to get another driver to turn around.
All the while, sirens are blaring in the background as crews from multiple agencies respond to the scene.
The road was shut down for more than 13 hours as emergency personnel attended to victims, investigators to assess what happened and then crews to haul away the wreckage.
Eight people headed to work in the fields lost their lives when the farm bus crashed. Dozens were injured and at last report at least six were still in serious or critical condition.