A 5-year-old girl died Tuesday in a school bus crash that also injured several others in South Georgia.
The Georgia State Patrol responded to the single-vehicle crash about 7:15 a.m. at Ga. 196 and Ray Road in Liberty County, according to the agency.
A Liberty County school bus was traveling east on Ray Road when the driver lost control, ran off the road and went into a ditch, hitting a tree, the GSP said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Upon impact, the roof of the bus caved in on the occupants,” the GSP said.
The child killed, identified as Cambria Shuman of Hinesville by the GSP, was a student in the Liberty County School System, according to the district. She was sitting at the front of the bus on the right side, which suffered the greatest impact during the crash, Channel 2 Action News reported.
There were 22 children on the bus with multiple injuries. They were taken to Liberty Regional Medical Center and Winn Army Community Hospital, the GSP said.
Bus driver Evelyn Rodriguez, 62, of Hinesville, was trapped in the crash but freed after an hour. She was taken to Memorial Health in Savannah.
Investigators said security video showed Rodriguez struggling with the gear shift and trying to control the bus before it crashed, Channel 2 reported. No charges have been filed.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the student’s family in their time of grief,” school system spokeswoman Patti Crane said in a statement to the AJC.
The school system is asking the community to keep those affected by the child’s death in their thoughts and prayers.
Grief counselors were on hand at the school, the district reported.
The crash area, about 50 miles southwest of Savannah, is about 235 miles southeast of Atlanta.
Just before Thanksgiving last year, six children were killed in a school bus crash in Chattanooga.
RELATED: Chattanooga school bus crash claims 6th victim
MORE: Students, principal had complained about Chattanooga school bus driver
In other news:
About the Author
