
3/23 UPDATE: A statement by Hays CISD stated that the bus involved in the crash was not equipped with seatbelts, classes and the board meeting originally scheduled for Monday have been cancelled.
A Hays CISD school bus carrying 44 children and 11 adults was struck head-on by a concrete truck on State Highway 21 near Caldwell Road in Bastrop County on Friday afternoon, killing one child on the bus and an adult male in a vehicle following the bus.
The crash occurred around 1:59 p.m. as the bus was traveling west on the highway with students from Tom Green Elementary who were returning from a field trip to the Bastrop Zoo.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the concrete truck veered into the westbound lane and struck the front of the school bus. As a result of the initial crash, a Black Charger collided with the back of the bus. That driver died in the crash as well as a young boy who was a Pre-K student at Tome Green Elementary.
It remains unclear if the truck driver will face charges at this time.
“It’s difficult,” Sergeant Deon Cockrell with the Texas Department of Public Safety said. “It’s something we actually do for a living, but it’s difficult when you find children this young that are involved in a crash.”
51 others were injured at the scene with four of those transported by helicopter in critical condition, six transported by ground with potentially serious injuries, and 10 were taken to a children’s hospital by ambulance bus. Some who suffered minor injuries did not require transport and were moved to a reunification center established by the school district.
“It’s a lot of coordination, it involved approximately nine EMS agencies,” Kevin Parker, Division Chief with ATCEMS, said. “We are very near the county line.”
ALSO | Man arrested for alleged fentanyl sale resulting in teen’s overdose in Williamson County
Hays CISD Superintendent Eric Wright sent a letter to families saying he’s heartbroken, saying in part, “There are grieving families tonight who will never know life again as it was before.”
He thanked first responders and everyone who has reached out to offer support from other school districts to Governor Greg Abbott. He also thanked the bus driver, who he says despite being injured, insisted on all the children receiving treatment first.
Parents were reunited with students at the school in Buda, a process that ended at 6:45 p.m. Friday.
I can report to you this evening that our reunification process was completed at 6:45 p.m. Our teachers and school staff have all been commendable and professional in their efforts to help everyone affected by today’s unspeakable event. Allow me to specifically thank the driver of the bus. Though injured, she insisted that medical personnel tend to the children first. Additionally, the other adults on the bus also focused their attention on the children first, despite their own injuries.
The crash involved coordination from approximately nine EMS agencies, with Austin-Travis County EMS sending five ambulances, two commanders, and two chiefs to the scene. The Capital Area Trauma Regional Advisory Council assisted in distributing patients to area hospitals to avoid overloading the closest facilities.
The school bus overturned on its side during the crash, but it is unclear at this time whether the bus was equipped with seat belts.
Cleanup on SH-21 took until after 9 p.m.
“It’s a busy road and we have a large number of people that were involved in the crash,” Cockrell said. “So we had to go through and identify each of the children, notify the parents, the school had to be identified, so shutting down the road was an absolute necessity.”
The Texas Department of Public Safety’s state crash team is currently investigating the incident and says at this time, there’s no word on what may have caused the concrete truck to veer into the bus. It may take several weeks before investigators finish the crash reconstruction.
Credit: Source link