Two injured after school bus overturns on I-44
ST. LOUIS — Just before 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, a school bus with the St. Louis Public School District overturned on I-44 near Grand in South St. Louis following a collision with another vehicle. Fortunately, no children were present on the bus at the time of the accident. A man and a woman, identified as the bus driver and a monitor, were taken to the hospital. The extent of their injuries remains unclear, though they were conscious when taken to the hospital.
St. Louis City Firefighters carefully removed a woman from the back of the bus and placed her on a stretcher, as seen on video by Bommarito Automotive Group SkyFOX Helicopter. Police were seen blocking off three lanes of I-44 west, just east of Grand. The footage also showed the bus driver being removed and placed in an ambulance.
Jeff Wood, the regional safety manager for North America Central School Bus, shared details from witnesses at the scene. According to reports, an erratically driven car struck the left front passenger side of the bus, causing it to lose control and ultimately flip over. The driver of the vehicle responsible for the collision reportedly abandoned their car at Vandeventer and McCree and fled the scene. The vehicle was later found crashed into a parked car.
At the time of the accident, the bus, a smaller Missouri Central School Bus, was carrying just the driver and a monitor, likely returning to the garage. Earlier in the day, the bus had transported five or six children.
In reflecting on the durability of school buses, Wood noted, “The buses are pretty indestructible, but when a bus turns over, it could be pretty hazardous.”
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
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