LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A faculty bus crashed over an embankment and landed on its facet Monday morning in rural Kentucky, sending the driving force and 18 youngsters to hospitals with accidents starting from minor to extreme, authorities mentioned Monday.
College students from elementary age by way of highschool had been aboard the bus en path to lessons when the crash occurred on a state freeway close to Salyersville in jap Kentucky, mentioned Superintendent Chris Meadows of Magoffin County Faculties.
No different automobiles had been concerned.
Meadows spoke of various accidents from minor to vital at a day information convention and reported a mixture of feelings within the college district after the crash. Whereas it has been quiet and unhappy, he mentioned, officers are grateful that there aren’t any fatalities to report at the moment.
“All of those households, these college students and this driver, they’re in our ideas and prayers,” Meadows mentioned, including officers had been following up with households and doing all the pieces potential to assist them.
When first responders arrived, a number of the college students had already climbed up the embankment and others had been then helped up the hill with ropes and baskets, Salyersville Fireplace Chief Paul Howard mentioned.
Gov. Andy Beshear mentioned in a tweet that Kentucky State Police had been on the scene, and “we’re responding swiftly.”
The bus exited state Route 40 close to Salyersville and went over an embankment, state Trooper Michael Coleman mentioned.
It wasn’t instantly clear what brought about the crash. “We’re actually at first phases of the investigation,” Coleman mentioned, including the street was anticipated to stay shut for a number of hours.
A few of the injured had been flown from the crash by helicopter and others had been taken by ambulances and personal automobiles, officers mentioned. Up to date situations weren’t instantly obtainable.
There was dialogue about the potential for a guard rail within the space the place the crash occurred, however water and sewer traces underneath the roadway have created boundaries to transferring ahead, Magoffin Decide Government Matt Wireman mentioned.
He mentioned a number of crashes have been reported within the normal space through the years.
“That’s typical in any rural space the place you may have numerous winding roads,” he mentioned
The varsity bus didn’t have seat belts, Meadows mentioned.
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board renewed a name earlier this month for including seat belts on college buses after finishing an investigation of a 2020 crash in Tennessee that killed the driving force and a 7-year-old lady.
U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul joined state and native officers in providing prayers for the households concerned.
