Eight students were injured in a school bus accident Monday in southeastern Wisconsin, after a car struck the bus and caused it to spin off the road. The injuries ranged from minor to serious, authorities said, but none were considered life-threatening.
The accident happened before 7:30 a.m. CDT in Fredonia, according to the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office. The bus from Random Lake School District was carrying 36 students, some as young as elementary school age. The oldest were in high school, the sheriff's office said. Ozaukee County includes Fredonia, a town located some 30 miles north of Milwaukee that's adjacent to Random Lake.
Sheriff's deputies found the school bus lying on its passenger side in a ditch beside the road when they responded to the scene Monday morning, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee with significant front-end damage was stopped in the roadway. The sheriff's office said investigators determined that the car ran a stop sign while driving eastbound on County Trunk Highway East, striking the bus at an intersection as it was traveling northbound.
The collision caused the bus to spin 180 degrees and roll onto its side before sliding into the ditch, according to the sheriff. The bus driver, identified as 53-year-old Mark Hall of West Bend, who is employed by the Random Lake School District, was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. So were the driver of the Jeep, 32-year-old Becka Stevenson, and a passenger, 33-year-old Luis Vargas, both of whom also had minor injuries after the crash.
The injured students were transported by ambulance to local hospitals and the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Those who weren't injured were evacuated though the roof and rear emergency exits of the school bus and picked up by their parents at the scene of the accident. The sheriff said some students were taken to local hospitals later by their parents as a precaution.
The sheriff's office will issue a citation to Stevenson for failing to yield at a stop sign, while an additional investigation into the incident is still pending.
Earlier, the Random Lake School District shared a message to its Facebook page informing the community that "Bus 17 was involved in an accident."
"Students were injured and are receiving medical attention," the district said. "All impacted families have been contacted and the remaining students on the bus are actively being picked up by their parents. As we know more information, we will update families."
The district said school counselors would be available to support students and their families.
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