MOORESBORO, N.C.—A bus carrying a high school girls’ volleyball team plunged 30 feet down a wooded embankment in North Carolina, injuring 14 people.
Photos from the scene show the bus surrounded by broken tree limbs late Monday night near Coxes Creek Mountain.
WLOS-TV reports one person had to be air-lifted to a hospital and others were transported to area hospitals.
McDowell County Emergency Management Director William Kehler tells news outlets that none of the victims’ injuries appear to be life-threatening.
Principal Dianna Bridges confirmed the bus was carrying students from Mooresboro’s Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy, which is about 50 miles southeast of Asheville. In a Facebook post, the school says several players, two coaches and the driver were hurt. The students were on their way back from a match.
Beloved School Bus Driver Dies on First Day of School
In related news, school district officials said Cynthia Gibson, known to her students as Ms. Cherrie, died in a car crash on her way to work Monday morning, which was the first day of school, reported Bay News 9.
Authorities did not specify where the accident took place or how it happened. It was confirmed, however, Gibson was not driving the district’s school bus in the deadly crash.
A longtime employee of Hillsborough County School District, Gibson had been driving HCSD students for more than 30 years. She was planning to retire after the 2019-2020 school year, according to Jim Beekman, the school board’s General Manager of Transportation.
In addition to her three decades of bus driving, Gibson is also remembered for being a role model for her coworkers, helping kids in need, active church member, and loving grandmother.
Beekman said in a statement that Gibson touched “thousands of lives in this community through her driving, her service to her church, and most important to her, her beautiful family.”
“When drivers needed a mentor, they would turn to her for guidance,” Beekman added. “When schools had some challenging students, she would step forward and work with those at-risk kids and made a difference. Her most rewarding role however, was grandmother to her beautiful grandkids.”
“I have never met a driver so unique and so full of passion for those around her.”
The tragedy happened the same day a truck crashed into a school bus in Lehigh Acres, Florida.
Troopers say one student was injured in a school bus crash on the first day of school Monday in Lehigh Acres.
According to Florida Highway Patrol, the bus was heading east around 7:50 a.m. on Eisenhower Boulevard when a pickup truck on Grant Boulevard moving northbound crashed into it.
The pickup truck’s driver, 18-year-old Hughes, did not stop at a stop sign, per the release. The front portion of his truck struck the left side of the school bus.
There were 5 children on the bus, en route to Gateway Elementary. One 8-year-old student suffered a minor injury and was taken to Health Park as a precaution. The bus driver had a minor knee injury, but was not taken to the hospital.
The Associated Press and NTD reporter GQ Pan contributed to this report.
