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More Than Dozen Hurt In Central Texas School Bus-Truck Collision

LORENA (AP) - More than a dozen Central Texas children were hurt when their school bus collided head-on with a dump truck whose driver may have suffered a medical impairment, authorities said Tuesday.

The truck, hauling large boulders, veered into oncoming traffic along an Interstate 35 service road near Lorena. The impact Monday afternoon injured at least 15 students and the two adults on the bus -- a teacher's aide who was thrown from the vehicle and the bus driver who needed to be extricated.

"The bus driver tried to take evasive action, which probably saved a lot of kids because the impact hit right where she was sitting," Lorena police Chief Tom Dickson said.

Adam Price, a spokesman for Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco, said 15 students and the teacher's aide with the Bruceville-Eddy school district were treated at the hospital and released. The bus driver, who wasn't identified, remained hospitalized Tuesday, and school officials said she underwent surgery overnight. The unidentified driver of the dump truck had no apparent injuries at the scene and wasn't treated, but may have later sought medical care, Dickson said.

The bus was returning students home when the collision happened. Dickson said their injuries ranged from bloody noses and cuts to leg injuries from being slammed into the seats in front of them. The students were in a variety of grades ranging from elementary school to high school.

A call to Superintendent Richard Kilgore wasn't immediately returned.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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