Firefighters extricate the driver from the front of a school bus that crashed, Thursday, April 24, 2014, in Anaheim, Calif.ANAHEIM, Calif. – Eleven middle school students and their driver were injured when a school bus jumped a curb Thursday and rammed into trees in Southern California, authorities said.
Three of the injured — the driver and two of the children — were taken to hospitals in critical condition after the 3:30 p.m. crash, Anaheim police Lt. Bob Dunn said. The other nine students had minor injuries, and most of them were released to their parents.
Television news reports show the Orange Unified School District bus tilted sideways and leaning against a tree on a roadside embankment next to Anaheim Hills Golf Course. Police said no other vehicles were involved in the crash.
The driver was trapped inside the bus, and firefighters removed him before he was taken to the hospital.
The bus was taking students home from an after-school activity at El Rancho Charter Middle School in Anaheim when it crashed, said a statement from Michael L. Christensen, superintendent of the Orange Unified School District.