Car hits school bus in Warren, 18 taken to hospital

WARREN — Eighteen students on a bus headed to Warren G. Harding High School were transported to area hospitals, nine of them complaining of minor injuries, after their bus was rear-ended by a car on Atlantic Street this morning.

The driver of the car that hit the bus was also taken to the hospital but with relatively minor injuries also, Warren police said.

The bus, Bus No. 2, was stopped at a railroad crossing on near Buena Vista Avenue Northeast about two blocks from school when the collision occurred at about 8:45 a.m. They were all Harding students, officials said.

Seven ambulances were used to transport nine of the students to Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital and St. Joseph Health Center. Ambulances from other communities responded to help provide the number needed.

Some students were placed on back boards and some were fitted with neck braces before being transported to the hospital, said Kathryn Hellweg, Warren Schools superintendent.

The nine other students were taken by a second bus to be checked at those hospitals as a precaution, even though they didn’t indicate having any injuries, Hellweg said.

The bus driver was uninjured and didn’t require medical treatment, Dr. Hellweg said.

After the car was pulled away from the bus, only a small dent was visible in the right rear bumper of the bus. The car sustained massive front-end damage.

For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Vindicator or vindy.com