This happened in my town today. Video at link.
This happened in my town today. Video at link.
4 rescuers tell story of school bus crash:
Chris Mann heard the fire crackling as he entered the burning school bus, knowing injured children were inside.
As Mann climbed aboard mangled bus No. 9601, which had just been slammed by an 18-wheeler, he was met by children’s screams.
He fought through the thick smoke, trying to get to a child trapped in the back. She was lodged in the crushed seats; he couldn’t get her out.
Then, the bus was rocked by exploding tires. As the blaze grew, Mann turned his attention to saving others.
In all, 21 students were on board the bus that had stopped and, by all accounts, had its flashers on and the bus arm activated.
Like a missile, an 18-wheeler slammed the rear of the bus without stopping, pushing it 275 feet.
Mann, of Palatka, who initially didn’t want to discuss the horrifying ordeal, finally talked about the ordeal.
He and three other men — two elevator installers from Palatka, a local man rocked from his couch and a wholesale tire delivery man — all stopped to save children.
“The Lord put us all there for that reason — to save those children,” said James Horton, 45, who witnessed the crash as he drove north on U.S. 301.
He locked the brakes on his Barron’s Wholesale Tire box truck. He thought about his children — ages 17, 14 and 11 — and ran to the bus.
“All I could think about was my children, and they all ride buses,’’ said Horton, of Jacksonville.
John Bishop, 45, was driving his pickup north, with Mann sitting in the driver’s seat. He saw the school bus was stopped and its lights were flashing.
Mann noticed the school bus arm went out, and he noticed the 18-wheeler barreling in from behind. Bishop realized the semi wasn’t stopping.
“It sounded like a bomb went off,” Bishop said. “It was something I don’t want to ever see again.”
Bishop and Mann, both installers for Mowrey Elevators, knew they had to act and act fast. Bishop, the pickup driver, quickly got into a northbound turn lane.
They pulled across the southbound lane and stopped to block traffic. They ran to the bus, meeting Horton. They all quickly began pulling children from the inferno.
Matt Eckenrode, 25, was sitting on his living room couch watching television when an explosion shook his home, nearly knocking him to the floor.
Knowing something terrible had happened, he looked out from his window and watched the wreckage being pushed down U.S. 301.
“I got my shoes on and when I got to the door, I could hear the children screaming,” he said. “I just ran up there to see if I could help them.”
Eckenrode lives on the dirt Northeast 155th Street Road, just a few blocks from where the children catch the bus.
“I helped pull out the girl who lives just down the road,” he said. “All I could hear was the screaming. I wanted to do what I could to help them.”
For Mann, it still bothers him that they left one child behind, even though he knows they saved many others.
“The kid was lodged and I just couldn’t get her out,” he said. “There was nothing I could do.”
Prayers up for the family of the deceased child and all who were injured or otherwise are concerned.
Terrible. Terrible.
There is a hill at 316 and 301, but it looks like this happened before that hill, southbound, so the driver had to have had a clear view of what was ahead. The road is basically flat and straight.
The guy must have fallen asleep. Or passed out. I can't think of any other explanation.
What a horrible scene! Prayers for all the injured, and prayers especially for the family of the little girl who perished...
From the pictures, and hearing that there were indeed several explosions it seems a complete miracle that only one child was lost, and that those who came to help weren’t injured more seriously as well! Heroes, all of them - no matter what they might say to the contrary in their frustration and grief right now.
It takes a special kind of person to enter a burning school bus, IMHO... I would only hope to be as brave as they if ever faced with the same situation.
Prayers up.
Here in Kentucky, our school buses are considered to be the safest in the nation, with multiple side and top exits. Sadly, these safety features come as the result of the two deadliest school bus accidents; the Prestonsburg Bus Wreck, where a school bus clipped a wrecker and plunged into the Big Sandy River, and the Carrollton Bus Crash, where a church bus was struck head-on by a drunk driver and burst into flames.
Twenty-seven people died in each of these tragic accidents, resulting in massive upgrades in school bus safety here in Kentucky. Most of the people killed in the Prestonsburg wreck drowned after being trapped in the bus, so they installed two roof exits in every bus in the state. With the Carrollton Crash, the front door was jammed by the impact and the path to the rear door was mostly blocked by flames from the ruptured fuel tanks, so a side door and four window exits are now required in every school bus.
The truck driver should never drive again.
Prayers for the truck driver as well. It might have been a horribly negligent thing to do, but I'm sure he didn't mean to cause this and he will likely suffer badly.
The injured kids were taken to Shands Hospital in Gainsville. It is a magnificent facility.
Two years ago my sister in law was in a terrible accident and taken to Shands. Had it been any where else in Forida she wouldn’t be with us today.
Those kids were lucky to be taken there.
May GOD help the affected families.