Driver cited for school bus crash that hurt 8 students in Burke County

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — Eight students were hurt and a bus monitor was flown to the hospital following a school bus crash in Burke County Tuesday morning, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

It happened around 7:30 a.m. on Old North Carolina Highway 10 near Johnson Bridge Road. The area is south of the town of Hildebran.

Troopers said the bus was traveling west on Johnson Bridge Road when the driver overcorrected and lost control, running off the right side of the road. The bus struck a drainage ditch and flipped, coming to rest on its top, according to troopers.

Eight out of nine students on the bus were hospitalized for various injuries, along with the driver.

Troopers said a bus monitor was thrown from the bus and then pinned in the emergency exit door. They were flown to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in serious condition.

“When you hear it on the radio, it’s just heartbreaking. You initially think the worst,” said Burke County Sgt. Daniel Wakefield. “Of course, we did have the monitor on the school bus was partially ejected through the exit hatch on the top of the bus. So you think the worst, and try to get here has fast as you can to see if you can help.”

Channel 9′s Dave Faherty spoke with other drivers who stopped to help the children in need, including one who was in a wheelchair.

“We just tried to get the ones that we could out, and there was one who was actually pinned in, and we had to get the wrecker here to pick the bus up. It was just scary. Seeing kids like that hurt and not being able to do anything about it,” Wes Ingle said.

The driver of the bus was cited for failure to maintain lane control.

The bus operates as handicapped transportation and services multiple schools in the Burke County school district, according to troopers. The students who were onboard use wheelchairs or need other assistance.

The nine children on board attend two high schools in eastern Burke County and Hallyburton Academy. The superintendent said most of the children’s injuries were “bumps and bruises.”

Silas Jourdan lives nearby and hopes everyone recovers quickly.

“I couldn’t imagine how it happened, how it run off the road like that, but apparently it did,” he said.

Faherty reached out to the school district to find out if the driver will be allowed to continue working there.

(VIDEO: 4 students evaluated after minor school bus crash, CMS says)

4 students evaluated after minor school bus crash, CMS says

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