FREEBURG -- Two students were taken to hospitals Wednesday after a school bus carrying 19 children slid off an icy rural road, fell into an 8-foot-deep gully and rolled onto its side. Bus driver Connie Marsh-Raker, 50, of Freeburg, and 17 of the Selinsgrove school district students walked away from the accident uninjured.
One injured student was taken to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, and the other, to Evangelical Community Hospital, Lewisburg.
Their identities and medical conditions were unknown Wednesday night, but Selinsgrove schools Superintendent Frederick Johnson said their injuries did not appear to be serious.
"But you could see that the kids were shook up," said Johnson, who rushed to the accident scene as soon as he was informed of the crash. "It could have been much worse, considering the road conditions and where the bus landed."
Marsh-Raker was driving Bus No. 24 along Produce Road, just off Route 35 and on the east side of Freeburg, around 4 p.m.
"I was driving slowly, about 10 miles per hour because of the slippery, iced road conditions. I could not steer the bus or stop the bus," Marsh-Raker said, holding back tears.
The students, from kindergarten through 12th grade, were quickly evacuated and placed into rescue vehicles to keep warm following the accident.
Johnson, the superintendent, was in a meeting when the crash occurred.
"I drive that road all the time," he said Wednesday night. "I rushed to the accident scene, but by the time I arrived, the kids were all out of the bus. The first thing we did was check to see who was supposed to be in the bus against who had been evacuated."
Parents came to pick up their children, Johnson said.
Asked if school should have been dismissed earlier Wednesday because of the inclement weather, Johnson said: "I am not going to second-guess myself. The storm that brought down all that sleet and ice hit so quickly that I don't think there was anything we might have done differently."
Counseling will be available for the students as needed, Johnson said.
The bus was operated by Sharitz Bus Service.
It was hauled out of the gully by Keller Auto Body, Selinsgrove.
Assisting Selinsgrove state police trooper John Monkelis at the scene were fire and rescue personnel from the Freeburg Fire Department.
No additional information was available Wednesday night.
n E-mail comments to rdandes@dailyitem.com
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