Students headed on Africa mission trip involved in Atlanta church bus crash

SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A church bus carrying dozens of high school students and adults from Alabama crashed near Atlanta on Thursday afternoon, killing one person and injuring several others, authorities said.

The Mount Zion Baptist Church bus from Huntsville, Alabama, was headed to the airport for a student ministry mission trip to Africa when it collided with another vehicle on a four-lane road, Fulton County Police Cpl. Partrena Smith said.

Smith said the National Transportation Safety Board is handling the investigation moving forward.

At least 21 people were treated on the scene and nine have been taken to the hospital. Two people are in critical condition.

Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong tells Huntsville TV station WAAY-TV (http://bit.ly/2t04k5b) that a teen girl died as a result of the bus wreck.

Madison County Schools spokesman John Southerland said several Sparkman High School students were hurt, some with broken bones. The girl who died was not a student in the district, he said.

Church members said family members of those seriously injured planned late Thursday to travel to Atlanta. Another bus driver will pick up those not seriously injured and return them to Huntsville, they said.

Madison County Commissioner Phil Vandiver's wife and son were on the bus. He says both are safe.

"We know they're all right, we know we've been blessed," he told reporters outside the church.

Vandiver said he spoke with both shortly after the accident but neither could provide any real details. "He was rather shook," he said of his son. "He just told me him and his mama were fine."

The church posted on its Facebook page about the crash.

"PRAY! One of the buses with the student ministry mission had an accident on the way to the Atlanta airport. Several serious injuries. Please pray for those injured and parents as they travel to Atlanta," the post said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report 

(Click PLAY to watch Facebook Live of WSB-TV's chopper over the scene)

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