Lake Buena Vista, FLA young child is reported dead today after sustaining serious injuries in a bus accident early Thursday at Walt Disney World's Fort Wilderness in Florida.
The nine-year old was struck by a Disney bus while riding his bike. The boy was accompanied by an 11-year old girl, and the accident happened at approximately 1:30 pm on Big Pine Drive. Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes said both of the children were on a sidewalk along the roadway, and that the boy left the sidewalk and entered the roadway. An investigation into the accident is currently underway.
"The little boy ... left the sidewalk and went into the southbound lanes of Big Pine Drive, struck the side of the bus and then was subsequently pulled underneath the bus and run over by the bus," Montes told reporters for WESH.com. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene; remarkably, the young girl was unhurt.
Montes also told reporters that the boy was from out of town, but was a resident of Florida. The bus driver has been identified as David Russell Rich.
This accident follows an earlier incident on March 23, when a Disney bus crashed into a charter bus. That accident resulted in the hospitalization of the driver and seven passengers on the Disney bus. In that instance, driver Jean Valentin was charged with careless driving and was placed on leave.