NJ - Multiple deaths after school bus collides with truck in Mount Olive, 17 May 2018

MOUNT OLIVE, N.J. — A school bus taking children on a field trip to a New Jersey historic site collided with a dump truck Thursday, ripping the bus apart and killing multiple people, officials said.

The crash left the bus lying on its side on the guardrail of Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, its undercarriage and front end sheared off and its steering wheel exposed. Some of the victims crawled out of the emergency exit in the back of the bus and an escape hatch on the roof.

Click to expand...

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a school bus and dump truck collision, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Click to expand...

“I heard a scraping sound and we toppled over the highway,” said student Theo Ancevski, who was sitting in the fourth row of the bus and was treated at a hospital for cuts and scrapes. “A lot of people were screaming and hanging from their seatbelts.”

The Morris County prosecutor’s office said there were multiple fatalities but declined to say how many before their families are notified.

Click to expand...

Counseling will be available for students tomorrow

Schools will be open tomorrow and crisis counselors will be present to assist the children and the staff, Bergen
A teacher and student were killed and 43 others were injured in today's bus crash in the Mount Olive Township in Morris County, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said.

Some of the 43 injured are in critical condition and undergoing surgery at local hospitals, Murphy said, though he did not provide further information on how manCounty Executive Jim Tedesco said.

Evening actives are canceled for today and tomorrow.
Dr. Michele Robinson, the school district's superintendent added: "We are devastated by today’s events. We are coming together as a community. We will ensure that students coming tomorrow are treated with a crisis team so that we can lend support to our students and our families in Paramus."

5 min ago
At least 2 people killed and 43 injured in bus crash, governor says

A teacher and student were killed and 43 others were injured in today's bus crash in the Mount Olive Township in Morris County, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said.

Some of the 43 injured are in critical condition and undergoing surgery at local hospitals, Murphy said, though he did not provide further information on how many.

Click to expand...

The body of the bus came completely off its chassis and was resting on its side in the highway median.

"I have never seen anything like that. I can only describe it as horrific," said Mount Olive Mayor Robert Greenbaum, CBS New York reported.

There were 38 students and 7 adults on the bus including the driver, according New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who spoke at a press conference Thursday. A total of 43 people of those 45 were injured and transported to hospitals for treatment, he said.

The front end of the dump truck was mangled in the crash, which occurred around 10:30 a.m. E.T. The condition of the truck driver wasn't known.

The bus was carrying fifth grade students from East Brook Middle School in Paramus. They were on a field trip to Waterloo Village, which depicts a Lenape Indian community and once-thriving port along the Morris Canal. It is a popular site for school trips.

Click to expand...

Sources tell CBS2 the school bus missed an exit and was trying to take an illegal U-turn when the collision occurred. The bus was carrying a group of fifth graders from East Brook Middle School in Paramus.

Click to expand...