After colliding with railroad tracks in Lancaster on Wednesday, a public transportation bus carrying children was involved in an accident that resulted in the bus flipping over and causing injuries.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the accident occurred at 11:18 a.m. on Sierra Highway close to W Avenue C. The bus was unable to maintain control of its vehicle and collided with the train tracks in the vicinity. After a while, the bus found itself lying on its side next to the railroad tracks.
Every single one of the forty passengers on the bus was injured, and their injuries ranged from minor to severe or even life-threatening.
An officer with the California Highway Patrol named Jordan Church stated that a boy who was eight years old and had been transported from the scene in a medical helicopter was in stable condition.
Additionally, the bus driver was transported to a hospital for treatment of severe injuries.
Church stated that the current understanding of the accident is that it is possible that the driver was unable to get off the gas at the time of the collision.
Union Pacific and Metrolink, two companies that use the tracks in the area, were reported to have been notified by the authorities after the city of Lancaster reported that the railroad tracks had been damaged where they had been struck by the bus.
The California Highway Patrol intended to look into any video surveillance footage of the collision that was obtained from Metrolink.
According to Church, this is the first time that the California Highway Patrol has witnessed an accident of this size in the valley.
“We’ve had a lot of school bus and transit bus accidents in our jurisdiction here in the Antelope Valley, but one with this many passengers, this many injuries, and the way that the accident occurred, this is definitely one of the first for us,” he said. “We think this is one of the first accidents that we’ve ever had.”
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) urged anyone who witnessed the event or had information about how it took place to contact them at (661) 746-6060.
