A bus filled with elementary school students never showed up to school in New Jersey Thursday morning, sending district officials and police into emergency mode.
The bus was missing for nearly an hour before it was ultimately found in another town — after it struck a parked trailer.
Fortunately, no one was hurt. But it still begs the question: What happened?
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Patrick Blazure said he first saw the bus after it hit a red barricade next to a pump at a gas station in Bridgewater. He knew right away something was off with the driver.
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SIGN UP "Looked like the guy was dazed and confused; he was completely out of it," said Blazure.
Police said the 80-year-old operator was supposed to drop the students off at the Mount Horeb School in Warren Township — but when the bus never arrived, it became a full-on scramble to find it.
Investigators said the driver suffered an apparent medical emergency and pulled into a parking lot just off Route 22. The bus had been involved in a minor accident.
"The bus impacted the back of a flat-bed trailer. Officers...saw that the driver was still trying to maneuver the bus. They got onto the bus, put the bus in park, moved the driver into another seat, and then they started escorting children off the bus," said Bridgewater Police Chief John Mitzak. "There were about 20 kids on the bus, ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade. They were fine, no injuries to them — a little scared, obviously."
The children were checked out by the school nurse and put on another bus. It was unclear what kind of medical emergency the bus driver had suffered, but he was checked out by doctors.
The bus company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
