Driver Killed In Somerset County Crash Identified
UPPER TURKEYFOOT TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- Authorities in Somerset County continue the investigation today into the cause of a crash between a school bus and tractor trailer that left one person dead and several others injured.
State police have identified the victim as 31-year-old Robert Dodson, Jr. of Duncanville, Blair County. He was driving the Pepsi delivery truck.
According to state police, the truck reportedly crossed the center line along Route 281 in Upper Turkeyfoot Township, and then crashed head-on into the bus.
There were 23 people on board the bus when the crash happened; most were students from the Turkeyfoot Valley Area School District.
The bus was taking students from a vocational school to Turkeyfoot Valley High School.
Six people on the bus, including four students, were flown to hospitals. The bus driver and an aide were among that group. Seventeen other students suffered minor injuries.
"It was scary, a lot of adrenaline," said Greg Snyder, a witness. "When you see a school bus with kids and stuff, you know, it's really hard to gather or whatever; just do whatever you can do to help them out."
The school bus driver reportedly underwent surgery late Wednesday at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown. State police have identified him as 63-year-old Wibert Kemp of Confluence.
He has reportedly been a driver for the district for more than 10 years.
Meanwhile, a 16-year-old boy also continues to recover after suffering a five-inch gash to the head and a broken nose. And a student taken to Children's Hospital was last listed in good condition.
The crash also delayed the start of school in the Turkeyfoot Valley School District for two hours this morning.
RELATED LINKS:
1 Killed, 17 Injured In Somerset Co. Crash (3/15/12)
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