Ohio

Ohio school bus overturns after crash with minivan, leaving 1 child dead and 23 injured

"They were all excited. It was the first day of school, and they didn't even make it down the road," one mother said. "They're all going to be traumatized."

A school bus full of children overturned after a crash with a minivan in Ohio, killing one child and injuring 23 others, one seriously, authorities said.

Trooper Tyler Ross of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said there were 52 children from Northwestern Local Schools and a driver on the bus at the time of the crash shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday on Route 41 in Lawrenceville.

He said an eastbound minivan went into the lane of the westbound bus, which veered onto the shoulder but was unable to avoid contact with the minivan and overturned. One student ejected from the bus was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

Thirteen children were taken to hospitals by emergency medical personnel and 10 others were brought to hospitals by family members or other personal means. Of the 23 total injuries among those on the bus, 22 were described as non-life-threatening and one child was seriously injured and was taken to Children's Hospital.

The minivan driver and a passenger were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

A third-grader who was on the bus described the crash in an interview with NBC affiliate WLWT. She said when the van hit them, "we bounced a couple of times. Then, next thing we knew, we were upside down. Everyone was screaming and crying."

The girl's mother, who asked to only be identified by her first name, Kirsten, told the station that her daughter is scarred emotionally by the crash and no longer wants to ride the bus to school.

"They were all excited. It was the first day of school, and they didn't even make it down the road," Kristen said. "They're all going to be traumatized."

The school district, where classes were to begin today, said a parent reunification center was set up at the nearby German Township Firehouse.

The Associated Press/NBC
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