Friday, March 6, 2015

10 STUDENTS HURT AFTER UTILITY TRUCK REAR-ENDS A SCHOOL BUS NEAR SAN MARCOS, TEXAS




MARCH 2, 2015

SAN MARCOS, TEXAS

Six students were taken by ambulance to the hospital Monday after the school bus they were on was hit by a utility truck. Four others students were transported to the hospital on a relief bus, which had an EMS technician and their parents on board. City officials said the students, along with a San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District bus driver and a bus monitor, all suffered minor injuries.

The crash happened about 5:15 p.m. on State Highway 21 near Bogie Drive, south of the San Marcos Municipal Airport. School district officials say the utility truck rear-ended the San Marcos CISD bus when it stopped to unload children.
“We thought some children were dead,” said Lydia Sanchez, who lives nearby. 

She said her house shook when the two vehicles collided. “The kids were standing up … the three children that get off at this bus stop, they were standing up. Thank God they did not get ejected or thrown out that windshield.”

Her daughter is a nurse, and the two of them immediately ran outside and started pulling kids off the bus after the crash.

There were 11 students in all from Travis Elementary School on the bus, San Marcos CISD spokeswoman Iris Campbell said. School district officials were also at the hospital helping families. One other student was released to parents — not taken to the hospital.

The driver of the utility truck was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge in Austin with serious injuries, DPS officials said.

SH 21 was closed in both directions for more than four hours while authorities investigated the crash.