Students Hurt In School Bus Rollover On I-95 In Weston

WESTON (CBS) -- Several students were injured when a school bus and pickup truck were involved in a rollover crash on Route 95 South Wednesday afternoon.

State Police said the crash happened just south of Route 20 in Weston. They said 22 students in grades 6-8 from Curtis Middle School in Sudbury were on the bus at the time of the crash.

They were being transported back to Boston by First Student Transportation as part of the Metco program, as Curtis Middle School had an early release Wednesday.

All 22 students on board, as well as one bus monitor, were taken to several area hospitals, including eight to Boston Children's Hospital, ten to Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and four to St. Elizabeth's Hospital.

Ten students were reported to have minor injuries, while the remaining twelve were taken to the hospitals as a precaution. The driver of the bus was not taken to the hospital.

State Police said at 4 p.m. Wednesday that all the students had been released.

One student who was in the crash said she doesn't remember the incident.

"I don't really remember, it's just the bus just flipped over," the girl said.

She said she had neck and head injuries, and was wearing a neck brace.

Dr. IIan Schwartz, of Newton-Wellesley Hospital, said the students are lucky to have escaped with only minor injures.

"As you know, they were not restrained and some of them flew from one side to the other," he said. "I think that's most of the injuries we're seeing is bruises from falls from one side to the other."

Weston Fire Chief David Soar told WBZ-TV's Ken MacLeod that all the students were off the bus by the time first responders arrived.

"It could have been a lot worse," said Soar. "If you look right down there, there's water on the other side [of the guardrail]. The bus could've gone into the water, it would have been a whole different situation. They're actually pretty lucky with where it landed, and everybody got off of the bus on their own."

One father whose child was on the bus is relieved it wasn't worse.

"She's a little shaken up. She had a headache, she hurt her hip in the accident. So, they evaluated her and sent her home," he said. "She's going to be fine, thank God. It's horrifying, especially when you don't know what's going on."

State Police said they sent troopers to each hospital to meet with school officials and the students' parents.

They said the bus collided with the pickup truck, then hit the guard rail and rolled over it.

The pickup truck stayed at the scene, and that the driver was speaking with investigators. The truck is owned by contractor Fresh Start.

Equipment was on scene Wednesday afternoon to try to remove the bus from the roadside, where it was tangled with the guardrail and leaning against a rock wall.

Traffic was reportedly backed up almost to Route 2.

In:
• I-95
• Massachusetts State Police