FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Two people have died after a crash late Thursday involving a charter bus near Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale.
According to Fort Lauderdale police, the driver of a Dodge Challenger collided with the charter bus as it headed north on Northwest 27th Avenue at 11th Court.
A couple of bystanders ran over to try to get the men out of the car while the car was still burning.
"(We) drug them across the street to get them away from the car, because they put the fire out once and then it ignited again," Kendra Young said. "You could smell the gas. You could feel the heat."
The driver, identified as Cedrick Camper, 41, of Fort Lauderdale, died upon impact. A passenger, identified as by family members as Otis Harvey III, 37, was taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where he later died.
Family members said Harvey had a 6-year-old daughter.
"That's the thing. It's a family broken," Brandon Wright said.
Broward County Public Schools spokeswoman Cathleen Brennan said 38 people were on the bus at the time, including 34 students, three chaperones and the bus driver. Students and chaperones from McArthur High School, South Broward High School and Stranahan High School were returning from a field trip to Tallahassee when the crash occurred, she said.
According to Brennan, the bus has just dropped off students at Dillard High School when the accident occurred.
"The kids were terrified last night," Young said. "Some were limping (and) some were basically having anxiety attacks."
Detective Keven Dupree said one child and one adult were treated for minor injuries. They have since been released from the hospital.
The field trip was part of a four-day "Rally to the Tally for New Floridians" event, where about 300 foreign-born 10th and 11th grade students from 23 Broward County public schools visited the state capital to learn about state and federal government and to meet with state agency officials.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.