At least 50 treated after school bus overturns in crash
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – At least 50 students were treated after an accident Friday morning between a car and a Jefferson County Public Schools bus which overturned.
The accident was reported at 7:15 a.m. at Lower River Road and Moorman Road. The bus involved, No. 1250, was carrying students picked up in west Louisville and Portland and was headed to Frost Middle School at 13700 Sandray Boulevard in southwestern Louisville Metro. The other vehicle involved, a red Ford Mustang, was carrying three people, whom officials said were students at Butler High School in Shively.
According to police, the Mustang was traveling west on Moorman Road when it slid into oncoming traffic. The bus rolled over onto its side as a result of the crash.
The crash was declared a mass casualty incident. Pleasure Ridge Park firefighters and Metro EMS worked to remove the students from the wrecked vehicles and treat the injured at the scene.
Throughout the day, the number of students taken to hospitals for treatment has varied. During an 11:30 a.m. briefing held at Frost Middle School, Dr. Michael Raisor, chief operating officer of the Jefferson County Public Schools, said that 51 JCPS students were transported. According to Raisor, most of those transported were for evaluation.
Lt. Col. Lee Dennison with Louisville Metro EMS said 49 people, including the bus driver, were on the bus. The 48 injured children were taken to several area hospitals for treatment. Dennison said 24 patients were taken by a Metro EMS medical response bus. The remainder of the students were taken by ground ambulances. All had been transported from the scene by 8:40 a.m. Dennison said the bus driver declined treatment.
Dennison said this incident was the first use of the bus, which is designed as an onsite treatment and transport center during a mass casualty situation.
Dwight Mitchell, a Louisville Metro Police spokesperson, said six of the injured were taken to Kosair. Mitchell tells WAVE 3 that none of the students on the bus or in the car had serious or life threatening injuries.
The LMPD traffic unit is investigating the crash. Rain and wet roads may have played a factor in the crash, but speed is also being looked at as a cause.
Lower River Road was reopened to traffic around 11 a.m. after the bus was righted and towed from the scene.
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