Nine high school students, driver injured when semi hits school bus

Nine Marysville High School students and a driver were treated for minor injuries Friday afternoon after their bus was rear-ended by a semi on Interstate 71 near Mansfield.

The collision happened after 1 p.m., following an English class field trip to the Ohio State Reformatory, the former state prison that was used in “The Shawshank Redemption” and other films.

Marysville Schools Superintendent Diane Mankins said two buses of high school students were headed home when one of them, driven by James Lemaster, 64, of Marysville, was hit from behind by a semi driven by Jean Braeckel, 55, of Ontario, Canada, according to the Mansfield post of the State Highway Patrol. Forty-five students and two school faculty members were on the bus, the patrol said.

“There were no lifethreatening or serious injuries,” Mankins said.

Braeckel was cited for failure to maintain an assured clear distance. An investigation into the collision continued Friday afternoon, according to the patrol.

The crash shut down the right southbound lane of traffic on I-71 near the Route 30 interchange.

The vehicle that was hit was not drivable. The students were transported to a safe spot by a Mansfield school bus, where they were to be picked up by a Marysville school bus dispatched to the scene, Mankins said.