Parents Concerned After School Bus Crashes Into Creek In Easton, Sending Several Students To Hospital
EASTON, Pa. (CBS) - A school bus ran off the road and crashed into a creek in Easton on Monday morning. Parents and children say they are still on edge and want answers after the crash sent several students to the hospital.
A student tells CBS3 he's grateful to have survived after his school bus plunged 15 feet into this creek.
"I was definitely really scared because I almost died," 12-year-old student Jayden Melendez said. "Everyone was scared then a kid opened the emergency exit and we all started running out."
The crash happened near the 500 block of Bushkill Drive, just after 7:30 a.m.
Parents say the students on board the bus go to Easton Area Middle School.
"We feared if it would've hit one of those large trees. I would imagine nine out of 10 times the bus would have flipped into the creek," an Easton police officer tells CBS3.
Police say minor injuries were reported. According to the Easton Area School District superintendent, 29 students were on board the bus and seven were taken to St. Luke's Anderson or St. Luke's Easton by ambulance. Two other students were taken to the hospital by their parents.
The bus driver was transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure.
"The bus hit the bump, the kids were in the air and the guy next to me landed on my ankle which made it hurt and then I hit my head on the window," Jayden said.
Jayden was on the back of bus number 20 headed to Easton Area Middle School when it happened. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors checked him for signs of a concussion.
He and many other students were calling their parents from the bus but had no idea where they were located. They thanked good samaritans for helping to pull them out of that creek.
"It was definitely something I thought I would never experience before," Jayden's father said.
Jayden's father, Juan, says to make matters worse the first time he heard from the district was after Jayden was discharged.
"There just seems to be a big lapse in judgment, notification, communication," he said.
Eyewitness News reached out to the district with Juan's concerns but has not heard back.
"This is something that isn't just going to go away. Everybody needs to know what happened," a good Samaritan said.
"I want them to actually hire qualified people to drive us to school," Jayden said.
Officers told CBS3 there are no seatbelts on the school buses. They do have dashcam from a vehicle that was behind the bus, that appears to show the driver overcorrecting. They say all of that is part of their investigation.
CBS3's Jasmine Payoute contributed to this report.