APOPKA, FL (AP) – More than two dozen people gathered at a memorial service for the victims of Tuesday’s deadly farm bus crash in Marion County.

The vigil took place outside the Farmworker Association of Florida office, in Apopka which is north of Orlando.

Some people held white crosses with the names of those killed, some spoke and some sang songs in Spanish.

Mourners pray during a memorial vigil at The Farmworkers Association Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Apopka, FL. Eight farmworkers from Mexico were killed and dozens more were injured when a pickup truck and bus collided early Tuesday morning in Dunnellon. Courtesy: AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
Candles and crosses mark the memorial vigil for the eight farmworkers who died when their bus crashed near Dunnellon on Tuesday. Courtesy: AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
Juan Sabines, consul of Mexico in Orlando, speaks to mourners during a vigil at The Farmworkers Association Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Apopka. Courtesy: AP Photo/Chris O’Meara

The dead have been identified:

  • Evarado Ventura Hernández, 30
  • Cristian Salazar Villeda, 24
  • Alfredo Tovar Sánchez, 20
  • Isaías Miranda Pascal, 21
  • José Heriberto Fraga Acosta, 27
  • Manuel Pérez Ríos, 46
  • Oscar Temoxtle Temoxtle, 31
  • Santiago Benito De Jesus, 24

Jose Ventura told Spanish-language television that Evarado Ventura Hernandez was his younger brother, and he had helped him come to work in the United States. He said his brother left behind a young daughter.

“We just came for a better future, but now you can see what we found. We found death,” said Ventura.

He sobbed as he added, “I was supposed to take care of my brother because he was the youngest.”

His sister, Norma Ventura Hernández, said she was angry.

“We are totally destroyed and it’s not right,” she said. “Let justice be done, and don’t allow all these deaths to go unpunished.”

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The Mexican consulate in Orlando was working to support the victims, meeting with some at a hotel in Gainesville and others at AdventHealth Ocala hospital.

Juan Sabines, the Mexican consul in Orlando, told Spanish language news media that seven workers, three of whom were in critical condition, remained hospitalized as of Wednesday afternoon.

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Sabines said they had contacted the families of the eight workers who were killed in the crash.

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He said he also spoke with the 44-year-old bus driver, a Mexican man with a work visa.

“What he needs the most immediately is help with his mental health,” Sabines said.

Fundraiser for Families

The Farmworker Association of Florida organized a GoFundMe to assist victims and their families, setting an initial goal of raising $50,000. As of Thursday morning, nearly 1,000 had donated raising nearly $66,000.

The workers were headed to Cannon Farms in Dunnellon to pick watermelon when the bus crashed.

“Thank you to all who have reached out and offered condolences, help and prayers” for the people hurt in the crash, Cannon Farms said in a Facebook post. The farm has been closed since the crash. It’s not clear if it will reopen on Thursday.