ight people are dead and 40 were hospitalized after a bus carrying farm workers crashed and overturned early Tuesday morning in north central Florida, officials said.

The crash involved a 2010 International retired school bus transporting farm workers and a 2001 Ford Ranger truck and unfolded on State Road 40, 500 feet west of SW 148 Court at 6:35 a.m., the Florida Highway Patrol said. The crash site is about 45 miles south of Gainesville.

The bus was traveling west, and the Ford truck east when "for unknown reasons" the Ford "traveled toward the centerline" and the vehicles sideswiped each other, Lt. Pat Riordan of the Florida Highway Patrol told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
After colliding, the bus carrying approximately 50 people traveled off the roadway, went through a fence, struck a tree and overturned, Riordan said.
A total of 40 have been hospitalized, Riordan said. Earlier Tuesday, the Marion County Fire Rescue said eight of the hospitalized were critically injured, and there were 53 patients total in the crash, MCFR said.

The driver of the Ford pickup was also transported to the hospital with serious injuries, FHP said. Riordan said some of the hospitalized are "in very serious condition" and there's a "high probability" the death count could rise.

"At this point, we are conducting a massive traffic homicide investigation," Riordan said. It’s not clear what caused the two vehicles to initially collide.

AdventHealth Ocala said they were treating 16 patients, with 12 in the main emergency department at AdventHealth Ocala and four at AdventHealth Timber Ridge ER, Chief Medical Officer of AdventHealth Ocala, Dr. Rodrigo Torres, said in a statement.

Some people involved in the crash were also transported HCA Florida Ocala Hospital.