15 students and two adult drivers were injured in Charlotte, N.C. on Wednesday morning after a collision involving a school bus, a small dump truck and another vehicle.
The bus, which was headed to South Mecklenberg High School, crashed head-on with the dump truck at about 6:30 a.m. on Sharon Road West ay Sharonbrook Drive, and fourteen of the 15 children who were injured were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Grace Nelson, a spokeswoman for Mecklenburg EMS, told The Washington Post.
Photos of the scene show all three vehicles to be totaled. It is currently unclear what caused the crash.
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus headed to South Mecklenburg High Wednesday morning was involved in an accident that left 17 injured, officials said. pic.twitter.com/BgtVYl8qGg
— Kallie Cox (@KallieECox)
The dump truck driver and driver of the school bus were both trapped in the crash, officials explained during an 8 a.m. news conference after the crash.
“What we focused on was the removal of the dump truck driver and the CMS driver,” said CFD Battalion Chief Michael Gerin.
Charlotte Fire Department firefighters were able to get the bus driver out in about 30 minutes and the dump truck driver in about an hour. The driver of the third vehicle was not injured. The two injured drivers were taken to the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, according to authorities.
The unidentified driver of the dump truck suffers from life-threatening injuries, according to Mecklenburg EMS. The school bus driver, who has also not been identified, had “less severe, but still potentially serious injuries,” The Washington Post reported.
Gerin explained that the two drivers were trapped due to the “high impact” between the bus and the truck.
“The problem we encountered was the high impact to both the bus and the dump truck,” Gerin told reporters at the scene, according to the Charlotte Observer.
"We encountered some problems just in the sheer nature of the force, and the amount of metal that was around the driver(s),” he added.
There’s a massive response from this crash apparently involving a CMS bus. This is along Sharonbrook Dr. off Sharon Rd. W in South Charlotte. Parents tell me the bus was heading to South Meck HS. Working to learn about injuries & condition of drivers. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/jWVdsIQ7u9
— Anthony Kustura (@AnthonyWSOC9)
