North Carolina

Teens hospitalized after crash sends car under stopped school bus, NC district says

Teenagers were hospitalized after a car slammed into a North Carolina school bus near train tracks, officials said.
Teenagers were hospitalized after a car slammed into a North Carolina school bus near train tracks, officials said. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Teenagers were hospitalized after their car slammed into a stopped school bus in North Carolina, officials said.

Students and staff who had been on the bus were also treated after the crash, the Scotland County school district wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday, Nov. 16.

That afternoon, officials said a Chevrolet Tracker was leaving Scotland County High School when it hit a bus that had stopped at a railroad crossing. The car reportedly went under the bus with two teenage girls inside.

The Laurinburg Police Department said the teens, ages 14 and 16, and the 25-year-old Chevrolet driver were injured after the crash along U.S. Highway 15-401 Bypass. The area is roughly 40 miles southwest of Fayetteville.

The driver and one of the teens were flown to an out-of-county hospital, while the other teen was treated for minor injuries. Officers are investigating the driver’s “inattention and failure to reduce speed to avoid a collision,” police said in a news release.

Scotland County Schools said the district immediately told parents that its school bus was involved in a crash.

“All SCS staff and students were transported to Scotland Memorial Hospital for treatment and clearance,” officials said in their Facebook post. “There were no serious injuries to any SCS students or staff.”

Police said an 8-year-old, 4-year-old and the school bus driver were among those on the bus when it crashed.

Read Next
Read Next

This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 9:20 AM with the headline "Teens hospitalized after crash sends car under stopped school bus, NC district says."

Simone Jasper
The News & Observer
Simone Jasper is a service journalism reporter at The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER