9 Hurt In Auburn-Gresham School Bus Crash
UPDATED 05/19/11 10:55 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Nine people were taken to area hospitals Thursday morning, after two school buses and two other vehicles crashed in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood.
As CBS 2's Susanna Song reports, two special-needs children were among those injured.
Just after 7 a.m., paramedics responded to a crash at 76th Street and Ashland Avenue, according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Richard Rosado.
A police sergeant on the scene told CBS 2's Susanna Song that four vehicles were involved in the crash – two buses, a pickup truck and a car. Each of the buses had two children aboard, two of whom were special education students.
A Sunrise school bus driver apparently ran a red light while headed southbound on Ashland Avenue, and hit an Alltown school bus.
The impact sent one bus barreling into a fence, and in the process clipping a car. The other bus hit the turquoise Ford F-150, pickup truck, pushing it into the light pole.
Everyone in the truck and the two buses went to the hospital. No one was seriously injured.
Nine people were hospitalized in good condition to three different hospitals. Five were taken to Holy Cross, two to Saint Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center and two to Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers, Rosado said.
The only one who didn't go to the hospital was the woman driving the car involved in the crash.
Asking to remain anonymous, she told CBS 2 what happened.
"Nobody looked injured. There were a couple – they were clearly upset," she said. "They were waiting for parents and talking to people."
She said she saw one set of parents come to the scene to pick up a child, and several ambulances were also on the scene. She called 911 herself.
Natoya Hunter, a friend of the Alltown bus driver, also stopped by to see what happened.
"I just pray everybody's OK," Hunter said.
Hunter said she works for Eric Solorio Academy at 5400 S. St. Louis Ave., where the special education students attended. They were on their way to school at the time.
The driver of the bus that caused the crash was given a ticket, the sergeant said.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
