Road reopens nearly 10 hours after 1 killed, 16 hurt in crash on SR-60 in Osceola County

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – One person was killed and 16 others were injured Wednesday morning in a multivehicle crash on State Road 60 in Osceola County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The fatal wreck happened before 7 a.m. on State Road 60 near Peavine Road, about 5 miles west of Yeehaw Junction. S.R. 60 was closed west of the Florida Turnpike, but reopened at 5:15 p.m., roughly 10 hours after the crash happened, according to FHP.

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Troopers said the crash involved a Dodge Ram pickup truck, a Mitsubishi box truck and a motor coach that was transporting inmates from a Polk County facility to a work-release program in Okeechobee. Visibility conditions at the time of the crash were described as foggy and dark, troopers said.

The Dodge traveled westbound as the box truck headed east, the latter vehicle trailed by the motor coach, troopers said. According to a preliminary crash report, a witness told Troopers the pickup truck attempted to pass a vehicle in front of it, entering the eastbound lane before it and the box truck swerved to avoid a crash, yet collided. The motor coach behind the box truck did not stop in time to avoid a collision itself, striking the back of the Mitsubishi, troopers said.

“The Dodge Ram entered the eastbound lane in the path of the box truck. Both drivers attempted to swerve to avoid the crash... however, the front left of the box truck struck the front right of the pickup,” FHP Lt. Tara Crescenzi said.

A passenger in the pickup was killed — identified by troopers as a 52-year-old Port Saint Lucie man — and the drivers of the pickup and box truck were airlifted to hospitals with critical injuries, identified as a 54-year-old Port Saint Lucie man and a 43-year-old man from Brandon, respectively.

“We’ve had a total of 16 transports. We had one driver from the Dodge Ram, the driver of the box truck, both airlifted to the hospital with critical injuries,” Crescenzi said.

Of the 23 passengers onboard the motor coach, 14 were taken to multiple hospitals with various minor injuries, officials said. According to FHP, the motor coach was driven by a 69-year-old Lakeland man who sustained minor injuries but was not hospitalized after the crash.

“It is a two-lane road, so that’s why we always try to tell everyone that if you’re going to pass a vehicle, make sure it’s safe to do so, even if it is in a passing zone, make sure you have enough time and distance to enter the lane,” Crescenzi said.

Osceola County Fire Rescue initially said two people were killed and 18 others were injured, though troopers later said that those numbers were inaccurate.

Troopers said the fatal crash is still being investigated.

Note: Due to the information provided, this map depicts the general area of the crash and not necessarily its exact location.

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