17 hurt in school bus crash in North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV/Gray News) – Crews have responded to a crash involving a school bus in south Charlotte Wednesday morning.

There were three vehicles involved in the crash and 17 patients, officials said. Two vehicles hit the bus.

Kenny Phillips, Medic operations supervisor, said the crash, which involved the bus, a small dump truck and another car, happened around 6:30 a.m. The students had low-priority injuries and were taken from the scene by the mass casualty bus, he added.

Fifteen students were on the bus; of those 15, 14 were taken to the hospital. Paramedics said that 15th student refused to be taken to the hospital.

School district officials earlier had said that 40 students were on the bus.

One person had life-threatening injuries, one other person had serious injuries and 15 children had minor injuries.

According to Phillips, the crash caused the driver of the bus and the driver of the dump truck to be pinned in their vehicles.

Charlotte Fire Department Capt. Michael Gerin said first responders encountered problems because of the amount of damage to the cars, and it took 40 minutes to free the bus driver and about an hour to free the dump truck driver.

He added that the jaws of life were used and that both drivers were conscious and stable.

Officials said it is too early in the investigation to know if anyone will face charges in connection to the crash. There are currently no details on what led up to the collision.

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