Seven students suffered minor injuries Tuesday morning after an SUV crashed into a school bus at 77th and Prospect in Kansas City, Mo.
First responders flooded the intersection shortly before 8 a.m. after police say a black SUV rear-ended a bus carrying 20 schoolchildren from the Ewing Marion Kauffman School.
According to Kansas City police, the SUV driver said he was traveling southbound on Prospect Avenue following the bus. He said the bus pulled into the extended shoulder to the right and made a sudden left turn on E 77th Street. The SUV driver said he attempted to stop but was unable to avoid a collision. The driver told police he didn’t see the bus use a turn signal.
When speaking to officers, the school bus driver said he approached the intersection of E 77th Street and he saw another bus attempting to make a right turn onto Prospect. The bus driver said he pulled into the shoulder to make a wide turn to avoid the bus pulling out to Prospect, and he told police he was using a turn signal before the collision happened.
"Everybody yelled, ‘Stop! Stop! Stop!' and we hit the car and like a lot of kids hit their heads on the windows and stuff, like I hit my head on the window," Dashaun Brown, a sixth grader, said describing the impact of collision.
Worried parents showed up to the scene minutes after the crash.
"I was hoping that everything was all right because he called and said that the truck was under the bus, and they wouldn't let them out," Joe Rodriguez, a parent, said.
Kansas City police said some involved in the crash complained of injuries to the head, neck and back.
Given the number of injuries, paramedics deemed the crash scene a mass casualty incident.
"We will begin to do our triage, placing our triage tags, re-evaluating setting up treatment areas, calling hospitals which is really important so we don't overwhelm just one hospital," Paul Paikowski, EMS Chief with KCFD, said.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Research Medical Center discharged seven children and one adult who were taken to the ER because of the bus accident, according to Christine Hamele, a hospital spokesperson.
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Andres Gutierrez can be reached at andres.gutierrez@kshb.com.
