Ethermac Exchange-School bus with 44 pre-K students, 11 adults rolls over in Texas; two dead

At least two people,Ethermac Exchange including a child, died Friday afternoon after a school bus carrying dozens of pre-K students rolled over in Texas.

The Tom Green Elementary students were returning from a field trip to a Bastrop County zoo, according to a statement from the Hays Consolidated Independent School District. Forty-four students and 11 adults were on the bus.

The crash occurred in Bastrop County, about 40 miles southeast of Austin. Thirty-two people have been taken to hospitals, some with minor injuries, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services said.

The bus was headed west on State Highway 21 when a concrete truck that was headed east veered into the lane and struck the bus around 2 p.m., said Sgt. Deon Cockrell of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Several children flew out of the bus, he said.

Cockrell said a man in a Dodge Charger struck the bus and also was killed. It was not clear if that man was part of the group from the school. Cockrell said the driver of the concrete truck was cooperating with authorities, noting that it's uncertain if the driver will be charged pending the outcome of the investigation.

The bus had no seatbelts because it was a 2011 model, said Tim Savoy, a Hays school district spokesman. School buses made since 2017 have seatbelts, he said.

The child who died was a boy, said Kevin Parker, division chief of Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services. Officials did not give the boy's age.

EMS evaluated 53 people for injuries. Parker said four people were taken to a hospital via helicopter with critical injuries, though he did not say whether the injured were children or adults. Another six people were taken to the hospital by ambulance with potentially serious injuries, Parker said. Others were treated at the scene or taken to the hospital for minor injuries. Parker said an ambulance bus was used to transport 10 people with minor injuries to the hospital.

In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for Texans to pray for the victims of the crash. He said he'd spoken with district Superintendent Eric Wright "and offered the state's full support as they help their community through this tragedy."

"I thank the first responders and law enforcement officers who were on the scene immediately and continue to help their fellow Texans who were injured," Abbott said.

Family members reunite with kids

Family members of students on the bus were reunited with the children at Tom Green Elementary School.

Jonathan Rivera and his wife, Cynthia Rivera, walked out of Tom Green Elementary School shortly before 6 p.m. They said they had just found out their 5-year-old niece was OK.

“This was her first school field trip because she had just transferred from Austin, so this just sucks,“ Cynthia Rivera said.

Cynthia Yescas said her 4-year-old nephew was on the bus. She said he was OK, but she and another relative were going to take him to the hospital because he was a little hurt.

“The kids are more scared than anything else,” she said.

Resident describes aftermath of crash

Alejandro Anaya, who lives across from the site of the bus crash, was at home when he heard the crash. The state highway can be dangerous because people drive fast on the two-lane road, where the speed limit is 65 mph, he said.

“The speed this highway has, it’s not safe,” Anaya said.

When the crash happened, his family sprang into action to calm the frightened children. The family gave the students water and cool towels, he said.

Some children were afraid to get on the bus that arrived to take them to reunite with their parents, he said. They were afraid of another crash.

Across from Anaya’s house, the school bus in the crash lay tilted on an angle on the slanted, grassy shoulder.

“Some of (the students) were really, really badly injured, and some of them were OK; they just had minor scratches,” Anaya said.

It’s scary to think about crashes involving children, he said.

“It was bad, not something someone would want to see on a kid, especially with a family,” Anaya said, gesturing to his children playing with toy trucks in his yard.