A bus driver lost control this morning hitting a telephone pole, several trees and two parked cars with children inside. Pat Battle reports.
Several students were hurt after a yeshiva bus in Rockland County veered off the road and crashed into two cars before careening into a house, according to police.
Chief Marty Reilly of the Ramapo Police Department said the incident was reported just before 9 a.m. at Southgate Drive near Ivy Lane in New Hempstead. The bus was picking up children and was en route to a yeshiva about two miles from the crash site, in Monsey.
The driver of the bus suddenly lost control and the vehicle hurtled down North Southgate Drive, hitting a telephone pole, several trees and two parked cars — one of which appeared to be at least partially pinned underneath it. The bus ultimately slammed into a split-level home halfway down the block.
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Sources say the bus was coming down the street, which has a steep hill with a curve, when it crashed. The hill also has a recently installed speed bump, which investigators are looking into whether it played a factor in the crash. Some who live in the neighborhood said that speeding has been a problem on the hilly street, with more signage and lighting needed.
Police say the house was occupied at the time of the crash, but no one inside was hurt.
Chopper 4 was over the scene where wheel tracks on a lawn were seen leading up to a long yellow school bus that had crashed against the corner of a house. A silver vehicle overturned on its side could be seen pinned next to the bus, with debris scattered around.
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Twenty-two people were on board the bus at the time of the crash, according to the Ramapo Police Department.
The driver and several students were taken to a local hospital with injuries. According to the Associated Press, a total of seven children were taken to a hospital. Five of them were evaluated for minor bumps and bruises, while the other two, both 5-year-old boys, sustained injuries that were more serious but not life-threatening, police said.
A mother of an 8-year-old boy on the bus told NBC New York most of the children were able to get out of the bus on their own.
"They saw some smoke, so they opened the emergency window and started jumping out. The driver opened the back door and the rest of the boys went out, so they were all able to climb out safe, thank God. That’s a really living miracle," the mother said.
