Team Involved In School Bus Crash Was Returning From California Football Game
By Jamie Leary
DENVER (CBS4) - A bus driver with the Adams County 12 school district was killed Sunday late afternoon when the bus she was driving veered off a road at Denver International Airport.
Three busloads of football players and coaches from Legacy High School were heading home from DIA after a football game in California when the crash occurred. The bus that crashed was carrying 31 passengers and for unknown reasons, the driver made a second lap back towards arrivals on the East side of the airport.
Denver police say it was at approximately 4:30 p.m. when the bus veered off the east side of the road and into a concrete bridge support. The driver passed away at the scene.
Fifteen students were transported to various hospitals near DIA with non-life threatening injuries. There were three coaches on board who were seriously injured. As of Sunday night, two were in critical condition.
All three buses were evacuated. Many of the students with less serious injuries were escorted to a sealed off area inside the airport for evaluation.
"We evacuated all three of the buses that were here and brought all of the students into a room so that we could check them out, give them something to eat, give them water, make sure they were good and call their parents," said DIA spokeswoman Stacey Stegman. "I think some kids are pretty shook up right now and they're just waiting to go home to the arms of their families."
The bus driver worked for the Adams County School District but authorities have yet to release her name.
The school district also declined to say which coaches were in critical condition but stressed that the priority was taking care of students, making sure they have the support they needed to get through this difficult time.
DPD says they don't know why the driver choose to make a second lap back towards the airport.
Police are also investigating what led to the crash. They say a medical issue is just one of many possibilities.
