School bus crash postpones game

Three school buses and one other vehicle crashed on Interstate 30 in central Arkansas about 4:30 p.m. Friday, shutting part of the road for more than an hour, authorities said.

The buses were passing through Benton while taking students from the Helena-West Helena School District to a state playoff football game against Arkadelphia High School, Arkansas State Police spokesman Liz Chapman said.

A few students were treated for minor injuries at nearby hospitals, Chapman said.

The Arkansas Activities Association said in a Facebook post at 5:30 p.m. that the first-round matchup between the Class 4A teams was postponed because of a wreck “involving Helena-West Helena’s football team.” The game was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Friday. The AAA will make a decision today regarding when the game will be played.

Andrew Bagley, the Helena-West Helena School Board president, wrote in a social media post that the Benton School District was assisting in the transportation of the students and staff members.

“Right now, we are just thankful that there are no life-threatening injuries,” Bagley said on Facebook.

An alert from the state Department of Transportation said the inside and middle westbound lanes were shut at mile marker 116 in Benton as of 4:40 p.m. They were reopened at 5:45 p.m., according to the agency.