Twelve children and two adults were taken to hospitals after a dump truck plowed into stopped traffic and triggered a five-vehicle chain-reaction crash involving an elementary school bus in Gloucester County, authorities said.
All 14 people transported following Thursday’s crash in Monroe Township have either been released from area hospitals or remain in stable condition with injuries that are not considered life-threatening, according to township police.
The crash occurred shortly before 4 p.m. on North Tuckahoe Road and involved two passenger vehicles, a school bus and two commercial dump trucks.
Police said a dump truck was traveling north on North Tuckahoe Road when its driver failed to notice traffic that had stopped for an uninvolved school bus.
The dump truck struck the rear of a passenger vehicle occupied by an adult and three children, police said. The force of the collision pushed that vehicle into another passenger vehicle driven by an adult woman.
That vehicle was then pushed into the rear of a school bus carrying nine students and two adults. The bus subsequently struck the rear of a second dump truck, whose driver had begun moving in an attempt to avoid the unfolding collision, according to police.
One child became trapped in the rear seat of the first passenger vehicle and had to be freed by firefighters.
Twelve children and two adults were transported to area hospitals for evaluation and treatment. Police said all had either been released or were in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries by Thursday night.
The school bus was carrying students home from Oak Knoll Elementary School, according to Monroe Township Public Schools. The students had just completed their third day of the new school year.
“The driver and students riding the bus were evaluated at the scene by the Monroe Township Police Department (MTPD) and first responders,” the district said in a statement. “A number of students were transported to the hospital for further evaluation.”
Parents of children aboard the bus were immediately notified, the district said.
“The students were evaluated by medical staff at the hospital and subsequently released,” the district said. “Thankfully, the driver and students are safe and healthy.”
Counselors were being made available at Oak Knoll Elementary School on Friday for students who needed support following the crash.
Emergency crews responded to the 700 block of North Tuckahoe Road, also known as County Route 555. The roadway was closed between the Glassboro Road area and Braves Boulevard and Twelve Oaks Drive while police investigated and emergency crews cleared the wreckage.
Gloucester County hazardous materials personnel also assisted the Williamstown Fire Department with a large fluid spill caused by the collision, according to county emergency management officials.
The road reopened Thursday evening.
A nearby resident told NBC10 Philadelphia that the impact sounded like an explosion and that he ran outside after hearing the crash. He encountered a woman holding a young girl who told him another child remained trapped in the back of the vehicle.
The crash remains under investigation by Monroe Township police. Authorities said the commercial carrier associated with the dump trucks is cooperating with investigators and that motor vehicle complaints are pending.
Thursday’s collision was the second school bus crash reported in Gloucester County in two days.
Four children were taken to a hospital Wednesday after a vehicle struck a school bus in neighboring Washington Township. That bus was headed to Bells Elementary School.
No fatalities were reported in either crash.
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