A “major” crash involving a school bus transporting prekindergarten students occurred on a Texas highway Friday, killing at least two persons, including a pupil, according to a law enforcement officer.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the incident involved a passenger vehicle as well as a concrete truck.
The deceased include a male student on the bus and a man driving a Dodge Charger. Deon Cockrell, the Texas DPS spokeswoman, confirmed.
According to the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office, a “major traffic event” occurred on State Highway 21 West near Caldwell Road early Friday afternoon.
According to preliminary data, the school bus was heading west on the highway at 2 p.m. local time when a concrete truck traveling the other direction “veered into the lane of the school bus,” Cockrell told reporters during a press briefing. According to him, the concrete truck impacted the front of the bus, causing it to tip over onto its side.
According to Cockrell, the passenger vehicle involved in the incident was traveling behind the bus.
First responders at the crash scene evaluated 53 people, according to Austin-Travis County EMS Division Chief Kevin Parker.
Parker said four of them were transferred in critical condition by helicopter. He stated that it is unknown whose vehicle they were traveling in.
Parker said six people were also carried on the ground with “potentially serious injuries.”
He stated that among the remaining victims evaluated, some had minor injuries and were transported by ground, while others did not require transportation.
According to a press release from the Hays Consolidated Independent School District, the bus was carrying prekindergarten pupils from Tom Green Elementary School in Hays County. According to the announcement, the “serious accident” happened while they were returning from a school trip to the Bastrop Zoo.
According to the school system, the bus carried 55 passengers in total, including 44 pupils and 11 adults.
