Children killed in school bus highway horror

Four children have died after a school bus and two other vehicles crashed in Minnesota.

Motorists who were first on the scene near Cottonwood rushed some of the injured youngsters to nearby hospitals in their own cars.

The bus was hit by a van on a highway yesterday afternoon.

The bus then hit a pick-up truck and tipped on to its side, State Patrol Lt Mark Peterson said. At least 14 people were hurt.

Rescue squads and ambulances from many nearby cities arrived at the crash site.

The Marshall Independent reported that the first motorists on the scene were asked to take some children to the hospital.

“I parked my car and called 911, and ran to the school bus and the driver was handing kids out the door as fast as I could take them,” Karen Mahlum told the newspaper.

“You just wanted to make sure it was safe. They were screaming and screaming on the bus. There were so many kids.”

Pictures from the scene showed the school bus lying on its side on the bonnet and cab of a pick-up truck.

The bus, carrying 28 pupils and a driver, was on its regular route, carrying children from kindergarten up to 12th grade.

Parents were asked to gather at Lakeview School to await word on their children.

Of the 11 victims taken to Avera Marshall Regional Medical Centre, two were in a critical condition while one had already been treated and released, spokeswoman Deann Holland said.

Others were being treated for back and neck injuries, lacerations, bumps and bruises, she said.

Two of the victims, aged 11 and 14, were taken by ambulance to a hospital about 15 miles north of the accident scene.

Once stabilised they were flown to a hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to undergo orthopaedic surgery, hospital chiefs said.

Governor Tim Pawlenty issued a statement calling it “a sad night for Minnesota”.

“It is especially heartbreaking when young lives are lost,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who were killed or injured in this tragic accident.”

The victims were not immediately identified.

News of the crash swept through Cottonwood, a small town of about 1,000 people about 121 miles south west of Minneapolis.

About 40 people attended an evening press briefing at Swan Lake Lutheran Church.

When Fire Chief Dale Louwagie was asked what the community could do, he said simply: “Pray.”

Classes were cancelled for today at Lakeview, which serves about 585 children in Cottonwood and Wood Lake, and plans were made to bring in grief counsellors and clergy, a school spokesman said.