32 students aboard school bus that crashes into College Corner home, driver taken to hospital

Michael D. PitmanNick Graham, Journal-News, Hamilton, Ohio
·2 min read

Aug. 15—UNION COUNTY, Ind. — A school bus crashed into a home in College Corner this morning, and paramedics performed CPR on the driver, according to Butler County dispatchers.

The crash happened sometime around 7:45 a.m. in the 200 block of Ramsey Street, according to Butler County dispatch. Details of what caused the driver to crash have not yet been released.

West College Corner Fire Chief Don Jackson said the school bus was making the loop around an elementary school building to head to the middle and high school buildings in Liberty, Ind.

There were 32 middle and high school students aboard the time of the crash, Jackson said.

None of the students were injured, according to Union County College Corner District Interim Superintendent Gregg Pettit. He said they were taken to a nearby church for parents to get them. Paramedics evaluated the children on-site, and all were reported to be OK.

The Union County Sheriff's Department is the lead investigative agency.

The bus driver had just dropped off the elementary school children for the Union County College Corner School District on Ramsey Street and was in the process of picking up the older students when the accident happened, Jackson said.

"You can imagine with the school bus being involved, and kids, there's going to be a lot of investigation," the chief said. "The school did an excellent job of accounting for the kids, taking care of the kids, had some counselors there."

The Butler County Technical Rescue had been called in to stabilize the house, and an accident reconstruction team has been requested.

With the number of students on the bus, mutual aid from four departments, including Oxford and Camden EMS, were requested. They were staged at a nearby church for evaluation. The chief said three or four may have struck their heads during the accident but were not transported. He said one or two parents said they might take their children to the hospital for further evaluation.

The driver of the bus, a man, was unresponsive when he was extricated from the school bus and transported to Reid Health in Richmond, Ind. Jackson said the driver "is breathing some on his own, and his vital signs are improving."