A driver has been arrested over a crash that killed eight people and left dozens injured on Tuesday morning, according to Florida Highway Patrol.

Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, faces eight counts of manslaughter while driving under the influence.

Police say he “sideswiped” a bus containing dozens of farmworkers with his 2001 Ford Ranger pickup truck.

Forty people have been taken to medical facilities, said the statement from investigators.

Florida officials said the bus was carrying around 53 farm workers on their way to Cannon Farms, which grows watermelons.

The accident happened in Dunnellon, roughly 45 miles (72km) south of Gainesville, at around 06:35 EST (11:35 BST).

The crash involved a bus and a 2001 Ford Ranger vehicle, which “collided in a sideswiped manner”, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said in a statement.

The bus veered through a fence and overturned, according to the statement. State troopers arrested Mr Howard.

The site of the accident, State Road 40 West, was temporarily closed.

Aerial footage showed the bus lying on its side, its front section nearly entirely removed and the metal frame crumpled.