WASHINGTON, D.C. – Around 2 p.m. Friday afternoon, a Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) bus with 46 elementary students on board collided with a light pole in lot eight of RFK Stadium in the District of Columbia, sending dozens of students to the hospital.
“We were not informed how many people were injured, we were under the impression we only had a few people injured,” said Doug Buchanan, spokesperson for the D.C. Fire Department. “When the first engine arrived on the scene they quickly determined there were several dozen students injured and requested a Mass Casualty Incident.
“Additional ambulances, along with the fire department’s ambulance bus, were dispatched to the incident to transport more the 20 students to area hospitals.”
Buchanan didn’t really have an explanation for the accident.
“For one reason or another, the PGCPS school bus driver didn’t see the pole or just misread the distance. It was enough to shake and rattle the bus. It was enough to move some kids around in the bus and for us to come here and make sure everyone was okay.”
The students were from the Woodridge Elementary School in Hyattsville and were returning from a USA Science & Engineering Festival.
Fire officials said all of the injuries appeared to be minor, mostly bumps and bruises, and once the students were checked out by doctors they would be released from the hospital.
The students who weren’t hurt were taken back to school on another bus.
Police officials from the Metropolitan Police Department are investigating the incident.
Via Prince George’s county sentinel
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