School Bus Driver Dies While Driving 9 Kids

School bus crashes into car in Queens

A school bus driver dropped dead on the job yesterday, sending the vehicle rolling into an intersection with nearly a dozen young children on board.

One matron and nine kids were on board when the 59-year-old driver passed out behind the wheel while waiting at a traffic light at the intersection of Hampton Street and Elmhurst Avenue in Elmhurst at about 4:30 p.m., cops said. The kids were on their way home from a day camp when the driver collapsed and fell out the front door, which had been open because of the scorching weather, reports the New York Post

The bus kept rolling forward, into the intersection, and hit a car. Thankfully, the teenage camp counselor supervising the children leapt to the driver's seat and yanked the emergency brake, preventing any further tragedy, according to the Post.

"She saved our lives because she pulled the brake," Priscilla, a sixth-grader at PS 11, told the paper.

The counselor was taken to Elmhurst General Hospital with minor injuries. None of the nine children were hurt.

It wasn't immediately clear if anyone in the vehicle the bus hit suffered injuries.

Paramedics pronounced the bus driver dead at the scene; his name has not been released. A medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

The investigation is ongoing.

Owners of the day camp didn't immediately return the Post's calls for comment.

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