School Bus, 4 Cars Involved In Crash Outside School In Bustleton
By Steve Beck and Syma Chowdhry
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police are investigating what led to a crash that involved a school bus and four other cars in Northeast Philadelphia Wednesday.
It was the second crash involving a school bus in Philadelphia Wednesday morning.
The crash in Northeast Philadelphia happened at about 8:30 a.m. near the intersection of Lott and Hoff Streets in the city's Bustleton section.
The crash happened across the street from the Anne Frank Elementary School.
Chopper 3 HD was over the scene where it showed a school bus and an SUV on a front lawn and three other cars on the sidewalk, some sideways.
Police say the bus driver lost control on Lott Street near Hoff street and careened into four parked cars, sending one on someone's lawn, just feet away from a house.
David Stevenson, owner of a parked car, says,"It sounded like a really bad explosion. I came running back and that's when I saw the bus on the lawn."
Investigators said there were 22 students on the bus at the time of the crash. Ten were taken to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and Aria Health Torresdale Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
A witness, Jolanda Torres, says, "It looked like he couldn't stop, so he kept going and he just took all the cars and climbed the curb."
The children got off the bus safely with help from crossing guards and teachers.
Torres adds, "Some of them were crying, some of them had a stunned look on their face. They were kind of scared."
Investigators at the scene indicated that preliminary information suggested that driver error may have played a role in the crash. It is believed that an object fell and prevented the school bus driver from applying the brake.
Fortunately, no one was sitting in the parked cars that were hit.
Stevenson adds, "Thank God that we weren't sitting in the car because we do do that from time to time."
The crash remains under investigation.
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