6 killed in school bus crash in Tennessee
Chattanooga, Tenn., emergency crews work Monday at the scene of a school bus accident where at least six people were killed and at least 23 were taken to the hospital after the bus crashed into a tree. More than 35 students were on the bus, and their ages ranged from kindergarten through fifth grade.
At least six people were killed and at least 23 were taken to the hospital after a school bus crashed into a tree Monday afternoon in Chattanooga, authorities said.
Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston told media outlets that five people died at the scene and one died at the hospital. Melydia Clewell, spokeswoman for the district attorney, confirmed the number.
The Chattanooga Police Department had not confirmed the exact number.
The accident took place in the Brainerd area of southeast Chattanooga, and the area was closed to traffic, according to police.
The bus driver was being questioned by authorities.
Assistant Chief Tracy Arnold said there were 35 schoolchildren on the bus, and the ages of the students ranged from kindergarten through fifth grade. The students were from Woodmore Elementary School.
Rescue crews worked until after dark. Nearly an hour after the crash, two bloodied students were on stretchers in a nearby front yard, the Chattanooga
Times Free Press reported. Others who did not go to the hospital walked away clutching their parents’ hands, the paper reported.
Images on social media also showed interim Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Kirk Kelly racing to the scene.
And donors rushed to Blood Assurance, where marketing coordinator Mindy Quinn said there was a line out the door.
A WRCB reporter reported seeing several ambulances and a police chaplain on the scene.
The fire department described the crash on Twitter as “very serious” and Chattanooga’s mayor called it “horrible.”