Las Vegas charter school bus driver, students injured in crash with suspected drunk driver
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - A school bus driver and five children were injured after colliding with a suspected drunk driver Monday morning.
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the crash occurred around 6:07 a.m. at Eldora Avenue and Lindell Road. An initial investigation found that a white sedan, driven by a suspected drunk driver, ran a stop sign and crashed into the bus.
Police add that the bus was driven off the road onto the front lawn of a nearby residence, where it collided with a tree.
“I was sleeping and I heard a loud boom, and I looked outside and I didn’t see anything,” Karen Ghassedi, who lives next door to where the bus crashed, told FOX5 shortly after it happened. “And then I came outside and I heard kids screaming, ‘Help me, help me!’”
Ghassedi says her neighbor helped get the kids out of the bus -- with the help of the driver of the sedan.
“My husband and actually the driver of the vehicle were trying to pry open the door to the bus because they couldn’t get out,” she recalled. “The bus driver was stuck in the firewall of the bus.”
The sedan’s driver has been arrested on DUI-related charges, while the bus driver was hospitalized with a possible broken leg, police say. Five children were also aboard the bus at the crash, all of which have since been picked up by parents.
“The kids, they all left,” Ghassedi said. “They seemed to be okay. I’m sure they’re terrified... they were really, really scared.”
FOX5 has confirmed that the bus belongs to Nevada Prep Charter School, which said it’s down to just one school bus and two vans now to transport students to and from school. It had recently bought a new bus, but it won’t be available until January.
Nevada Prep gave the kids on the bus the option of taking the day off.
LVMPD and Clark County School District Police Department are currently at the scene.
An investigation into the crash is ongoing.
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