Updated: More than 20 students, bus driver injured in Letcher school bus, coal truck crash

Twenty-two students and a school bus driver were treated at the hospital Friday and released after a Letcher County school bus and a coal truck collided, the superintendent said.

Letcher Superintendent Denise Yonts said one student required further treatment and was transferred to another hospital.

Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart said the crash occurred about 1:30 p.m. Friday in Letcher County on KY highway 932 about two miles from the intersection of US 119.

Several ambulances took students to the hospital, he said.

Yonts provided the update on the conditions of the students and bus driver at 8:42 p.m. and said, “Please keep our students, the driver, and their families in your thoughts and prayers.”

The Mountain Eagle newspaper said at least six ambulances were in route to Whitesburg Appalachian Regional Hospital after the collision. Hospital officials told the Herald-Leader they could not release information because of patient privacy rules.

The newspaper said the truck involved was a tractor-trailer and that the crash happened near Flat Gap, close to the entrance of Bad Branch State Nature Preserve.

The bus, which apparently was transporting students from the Arlie Boggs Elementary School, left the road and came to rest on its side next to the Poor Fork of the Cumberland River, according to The Mountain Eagle.

Photos circulating on Facebook showed the bus was partially in the river, with the emergency exit hatch in the roof open.

The Whitesburg newspaper said tractor-trailers have used KY 932 to travel to and from Virginia, and described the road as a narrow two-lane with many spots barely wide enough for a truck and a passenger vehicle to pass.

The district had released an earlier statement on its website that school was dismissed at 1 p.m. Friday due to power outages at Letcher Middle School and high winds.

This is a developing story and will be updated as new information is available.