A “major” crash involving a school bus transporting prekindergarten children on a Texas highway resulted in the deaths of at least two individuals, including a student, as confirmed by a law enforcement official. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the crash, which also involved a passenger vehicle and a concrete truck, claimed the lives of a male student on the bus and a man driving a Dodge Charger.
The Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office reported the incident as a “major traffic event” occurring on State Highway 21 West at Caldwell Road early Friday afternoon. Preliminary information indicates that the school bus was heading west on the highway around 2 p.m. local time when a concrete truck travelling in the opposite direction crossed into the bus’s lane, causing a collision. The impact caused the bus to overturn onto its side.
A passenger vehicle trailing behind the bus was also involved in the crash. First responders evaluated 53 individuals at the scene, with four individuals airlifted in critical condition and six others transported by ground with potentially serious injuries. The condition of the individuals transported is unspecified.
The bus, carrying prekindergarten students from Tom Green Elementary School in Hays County, was returning from a field trip to the Bastrop Zoo when the accident occurred. The school district, Hays Consolidated Independent School District, reported a total of 55 passengers, including 44 students and 11 adults, aboard the bus during the incident.
