At least 18 passengers were injured when a charter bus loaded with Birmingham fifth graders overturned this morning on its way to the Tennessee Aquarium, a Jefferson County school system spokeswoman said.
The bus crashed and overturned in Springville, Ala., in St. Clair County this morning, according to Nez Calhoun, spokeswoman. The accident occurred on Interstate 59 in the northbound lane around 8:30 a.m., she said.
Some of the injured children were taken to Birmingham hospitals by ambulance, and one was airlifted to University of Alabama at Birmingham children’s hospital.
About 120 students were on their way to Chattanooga for a day-long field trip when the accident occurred, Ms. Calhoun said. It wasn’t clear if those injured were students or teachers.
Three buses were traveling in convoy along with a string of parents in personal vehicles, she said. Only the one bus, which overturned onto its roof, was involved, she said. Unharmed students were transported to a nearby National Guard armory.
“I have not seen the bus, but I’ve heard it’s a frightening scene,” Ms. Calhoun said. “All you can think of is gratitude that more students were not injured. We’re truly blessed.”
See tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press for full coverage.
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
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