A school bus slammed head-on into a tow truck on a Pennsylvania road Wednesday, leaving 49 kids and two adults hospitalized.
The bus was carrying 54 students in kindergarten through eighth grade to their second day of classes at Bear Creek Community Charter School in Wilkes-Barre when the crash occurred around 8:10 a.m. on Route 115 in Luzerne County, the Pennsylvania State Police said at a press conference, WOLF reported.
As of Wednesday afternoon, four of the 49 children who were hospitalized remained in treatment for moderate injuries, Bear Creek CEO Jim Smith told The Post.
The bus driver, Suzanne Ent, 53, and the tow truck driver, 28-year-old Edward Steinmann, were also hospitalized with moderate injuries, state police Capt. Patrick Dougherty said at the early morning presser.
Students were triaged at the scene. Some were released to their parents, while others were taken by ambulance to Geisinger Wyoming Valley hospital, Smith explained in a community bulletin shared with The Post.
Another group of students was also transported to the same hospital in a second school bus with a state police escort, he added.
Images from the accident site show both the large school bus and the tow truck with significant front-end damage.
The parents of the children have all been notified, Dougherty said.
“At this time it is believed the operator of the tow truck suffered a medical issue” that caused him to cross into oncoming traffic at the time of the crash, he explained.
“Today was a day that none of us ever wanted to experience, nor do we ever want to experience it again. But there are lessons to be learned, and we must be prepared in the unfortunate event of a future incident,” Smith’s bulletin read.
“I’m looking forward to the results of the ongoing investigation,” Smith said at the scene.
SOURCE: New york post
