BASTROP (AP) – A cement truck veered into a school bus carrying more than 40 pre-K students returning from a field trip to a Texas zoo, killing a boy on the bus and a man in another vehicle, authorities said.
Officials said the bus rolled over on the highway in the rural outskirts of Austin, where a heavy presence of emergency vehicles shut down traffic for hours. The roof of the bus was crumpled, and much of another vehicle nearby was pulverised. Personal items were strewn across the road.
Four people in critical condition were airlifted from the crash site. Six others with potentially serious injuries were transported by ambulance, said Division Chief Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services Kevin Parker. An ambulance bus transported about 10 other patients to a children’s hospital with minor injuries, Parker said. Passengers on the bus included 44 students and 11 adults, according to the Hays Consolidated Independent School District.
The child who died “was a precious young boy” who was a pre-K student at Tom Green Elementary School in Buda, according to school district superintendent Eric Wright. The child’s name was not released.
Wright said in addition to the two people who died, 51 others were injured, including the bus driver. “This is a horrible and tragic day for our school district,” Wright said.
The bus was struck at about 2pm when the concrete truck, which was traveling in the opposite direction, veered into the bus’ lane, Texas Department of Public Safety Deon Cockrell said. He added that authorities told him initial information indicated the truck hit the bus head-on, causing it to roll over.
The man who was killed was in a vehicle that either ran into the back of the bus or maybe part of the concrete truck, Cockrell said.
