Ten people, including nine students, were injured on Wednesday after an elementary school bus rolled over on a rural road just outside of Austin, Texas, according to local officials.
Ten people, including nine pupils, were injured on Wednesday when a primary school bus overturned on a rural road just outside of Austin, Texas, local officials have reported.
The Travis County Emergency Services District confirmed that nine students were among those hospitalised following the accident. The driver was also taken to hospital, according to a post on the agency’s Facebook page.
One of the injuries was life-threatening, Kevin Parker, assistant chief with Austin-Travis County Medical Emergency Services, told NBC News. He further revealed that two other injuries could potentially be life-threatening.
He assured that the remaining injuries were not life-threatening.
At the time of the crash, there were 43 people on board the bus, which occurred shortly after school had finished but before any students had been dropped off, Bruce Gearing, superintendent of the Leander Independent School District, informed NBC News, reports the Mirror US.
The cause of the incident, which saw the vehicle – described by Gearing as a 2024 model equipped with seatbelts – veer off the right side of the road before rolling over, remains unclear at this stage, a representative from the Texas Department of Public Safety told journalists.
The official pointed out a slight bend in the road and stated that a preliminary investigation is underway.
Images from the crash site depicted the damaged bus lying on its side. Gearing characterised the driver as an experienced professional and noted that the bus primarily transports students from a local primary school.
The number of students who were wearing seatbelts at the time of the bus overturning remains uncertain, he stated.
“This part of our Leander ISD family has been through so much already this summer with the floods and this tragedy this afternoon is really breaking our hearts,” Gearing expressed.
“We want each of those students and their families to know that our prayers are with them, our thoughts are with them, and we will do everything that we can in our power to support them.”
The conditions of the other students injured in the crash, apart from those previously mentioned, were not immediately disclosed.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
#Horror #children #injured #school #bus #rolls #violent #crash #rural #road