CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, S.C. — A school bus driver has been cited for a crash in Chesterfield County Friday afternoon that left at least eight students hurt, officials said.
All students who were sent to the hospital after a school bus flipped just before 4 p.m. on McCaskill Road near Angelus Road, east of Jefferson, have been released, according to school officials.
The bus was carrying 24 students from Jefferson elementary and New Heights middle school at the time of the crash, according to school officials.
“All I remember was just hearing a boom and then the bus falling,” said Kylee Hatchell, a sixth-grader at New Heights Middle School. “And everybody falling into the windows and falling everywhere.”
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Nine students, ages 8 to 12, were taken to Atrium Health Union on Friday, mostly with minor injuries, hospital officials told Channel 9. Some students may have more significant injuries.
“I’m feeling a lot better now than I was earlier,” said Kylee, who was OK after the crash. “I was really stressed earlier, like how are going to get home?”
As of Saturday morning, all the students were back home.
On Tuesday, South Carolina Highway Patrol said the bus driver was cited for driving too fast for the conditions.
During their investigation, troopers determined the driver lost control of the bus and went off the road to the left. The driver then struck an embankment and overturned.
Parent frustrated with communication from school
“They told us that the bus wrecked. They didn’t tell us that it flipped. And then when I get down here, it’s flipped on its side,” parent Ashley Cobb said. “I asked Kylee, ‘Was she speeding?’ Was she going fast?’ She was like, ‘No.’ (The bus driver) was going slow, but when she went around the curb, the road was so slick the bus just slid and flipped.”
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Cobb said she is frustrated because she found out about the wreck when her daughter called from the bus.
Cobb said she finally got an email two hours later.
“That’s what I’m upset about,” Cobb said. “They should’ve automatically got into contact with us. There are students on the bus that their parents probably didn’t know.”
Meanwhile, the mother and daughter praised the bus driver, who did everything she could to ensure students got off the bus safely.
Kylee jumped in to help, too.
“I just knew everybody else was upset and I knew I was one of the older people,” Kylee said. “I’m in New Heights, and a lot of the kids are from elementary and younger. I just wanted to help out as much as I could.”
Channel 9 reached out to the district spokesman to ask about Cobb’s concerns about how long it took to notify her. We have not heard back.
This is a developing story. Check wsoctv.com for updates.
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