KNOXVILLE — Sunnyview Primary and Chilhowee Intermediate schools have canceled classes for Wednesday after two Sunnyview students and a Sunnyview teacher's aide died in a Tuesday afternoon collision between two school buses on Asheville Highway in East Knoxville.
All three of the dead rode Bus 57 from Sunnyview, according to Knoxville police. Twenty-seven others suffered injuries in the crash, officials said.
Asheville Highway at Gov. John Sevier Highway will be closed until at least midnight while officers attempt to reconstruct the crash, Police Chief David Rausch said.
Police gave no names or ages of the students, both girls, but said most ranged from kindergarten to second grade. They and the teacher's aide, a woman, died at the scene, Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk said.
Relatives of at least one victim learned of the death at the scene from the police chief and burst into screams and tears.
National Transportation Safety Board inspectors were headed to the crash scene Tuesday night to assist in the investigation.
The crash apparently happened around 2:50 p.m. when Bus 44 from Chilhowee suddenly made a "sharp left turn" while eastbound on Asheville Highway, crossed a concrete median and slammed into Bus 57, which was headed west, DeBusk said. The impact flipped Bus 57 onto its side, and the bus slid until it came to rest across both westbound lanes.
Three patients -- two children and an adult -- were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center and remained in stable condition Tuesday night, DeBusk said. The driver of Bus 44 was also treated there for "non-life-threatening injuries," he said.
Three more patients arrived later, hospital spokesman Jim Ragonese said. Two hospital security guards were also treated after they were struck by vehicles in the parking lot, he said.
Twenty students were taken to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital -- 18 by KAT bus and two by private vehicle, hospital officials said.
Dr. Ryan Redman, emergency room director for Children's Hospital, described most of the injuries treated there as cuts, scrapes and bruises. Ten physicians -- about double the hospital's normal emergency room staff level -- stayed busy treating the children.
"The kids obviously are very scared after something like this happened," Redman said. "That's a natural reaction."
Students not hurt were reunited with their parents at the crash scene.
Bus 44, driven by James Davenport, belongs to contractor Bob Burroughs, and Bus 57, driven by Joe Gallman, belongs to contractor Fawver Buses, Knox County Schools spokeswoman Amanda Johnson said.
"We are unaware of any (previous) issues with their service," Johnson said.
More than a dozen parents showed up at the scene of the crash, seeking word of their children. Counselors were at the scene and will be at the schools Wednesday, Johnson said.
People ran to the accident site to help children off the buses, according to Karla Corona, a parts sales manager at the AutoZone near the accident.
“I heard the big bang,” Corona said. “As soon as I rang up the customer, we saw that a bus had flipped over and another was in the middle of the road.
“I saw people running toward the bus. I saw all the kids being rushed off the bus. Firefighters were the first to show up, and two or three cop cars. People actually got out of their cars and ran to help.
“It was all very emotional. God, it was scary. I sure hope all the kids are OK.”
Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett expressed his sympathies to the families.
"This is an absolute tragedy, and there can't be anything harder than losing a child," the mayor said in a statement. "My prayers are with all of the students and families involved, and I ask the community to pray for God to surround them with his peace."
State law doesn't require seat belts on school buses.
Tuesday's crash was the second in two weeks to send Knox County students to the hospital.
On Nov. 17, a 17-year-old Halls High School student lost control of a car on a curve on a wet North Knox County road and slammed head-on into an oncoming bus, officials said.
There were no injuries reported at the scene of the crash on Scenic View Drive near the intersection with Temple Acres Drive.
More details as they develop online and in Wednesday’s News Sentinel.
