A 24 year-old mother was driving in south Orlando yesterday with her 6-month old son in a car seat in the back.  According to a witness who was directly behind her, the woman stopped at the stop sign at Central Florida Parkway and Rocket Blvd., but then made a fatal mistake.  She pulled directly in front of a dump truck.

The impact of the crash crushed the small car, pinning it fully under the dump truck.  It took a large wrecker to separate the two vehicles. 

The witness immediately ran to the small car, but there was nothing he could do.  The woman died in the crash and the baby was pronounced dead at the hospital. 

The driver of the dump truck was not injured, but was emotionally distraught when he saw the car seat in the back of the crushed car. 

A 13 year-old Citra student was killed yesterday in an accident involving a Marion County school bus and a semi rig.  Reportedly the tractor-trailer driver was on his cell phone when his truck rammed into the back of the stopped bus.  Then both vehicles burst into flames.

The bus was carrying 21 middle and North Marion County High School students.  Florida Highway Patrol credits the drivers of passing vehicles with saving the lives of the other 20 students.  Of those 20 students, nine were taken to local hospitals, two with critical injuries. 

Witnesses said there were at least 4 by-standers who helped take the students from the burning bus.  For one of them it must have been very difficult as he said he tried to free the 13 year-old but was unable to save her. 

Two semi-tractor trailers crashed yesterday,  resulting in the death of a passenger in the sleeper cab of one of the semi’s.  One of the tractor-trailers was carrying $180,000 worth, or 3.6 million, brand new nickels.

The semi carrying the coins was headed to the Federal Reserve Bank in Miami on route from the Federal Mint when it ran into the back of another semi on I-95.  The truck with the coins flipped on its side strewing the coins all over the highway.  The one that was rear-ended hit a guard rail.

The interstate was shut down for several hours while the accident was investigated and Florida Highway Patrol supervised the clean-up of the nickels.