Three people, including a teenager, were killed after two separate crashes involving school buses occurred hours apart in North Dakota and New York.
On Monday afternoon, a school bus arrived at a railroad crossing outside Larimore, North Dakota, but it failed to yield and was struck on the passenger side by an oncoming freight train, the Associated Press reported. The force ejected the bus' 62-year-old driver and a 17-year-old student, killing both, state Highway Patrol said.
At least 12 people were wounded. Some suffered broken bones and three were in "very serious condition," Highway Patrol Lieutenant Troy Hischer told the AP. The train's two crew members were not injured.
The tracks did not have any crossing arms, which Hischer said is normal with rural railroad crossings.
"The train has the right of way," the lieutenant told the AP.
In Rochester, New York, two school buses collided at around 7 a.m. Tuesday on Hudson Avenue, killing the bus driver at the scene and sending several elementary school students to the hospital, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
Staff at Strong Memorial Hospital said they are treating eight students between ages 8 and 11 and one adult for non-life-threatening injuries.
Photographs from the scene show the front of a small school bus smashed into a tree and another parked in the background. No further information has been released at this time, but officials believe the bus driver's medical condition could have caused the accident.
"All indications at this point are that it was a medical issue, possibly a massive heart attack," David Bonacchi, vice president of Monroe Transportation Services, told the Democrat & Chronicle.
