Another fatal crash has occurred on SR 29, just .4 miles north of the Collier-Hendry county line. Twenty-two-year old William R. Cruz Rivera of Felda died in the crash, which occurred Sunday, January 30 at 6:30 a.m.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Mr. Rivera was driving a 2006 Toyota Sienna south on SR 29. A second vehicle, a 1995 International bus driven by Rufino Guzman Ortiz, 52, of Immokalee, was northbound.

For unknown reasons, Mr. Rivera crossed the centerline into the northbound lane. Mr. Ortiz tried to avoid a collision by steering to the right, but the front left of the Sienna struck the front left of the bus. The Rivera vehicle rotated counter-clockwise, coming to a final rest facing north on the road.

The bus continued northwesterly across the southbound lane and into a ditch, continued through the ditch and collided with a barbed wire fence and metal gate. The vehicle came to a rest facing northwest in a cow pasture on the west side of the road. There were 35 passengers on the bus, ranging in age from 19-61. All were from Immokalee.

Both drivers were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the collision.

On January 25, a 19-year-old LaBelle man, Nathaniel Gray White, died in a three-vehicle crash on SR 29 south of CR 832. He had not been wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from his Chevy S10, according to the FHP report.