One person is confirmed dead and several others suffered minor injuries following an accident involving two school buses outside Wagner High School on Monday morning, a Bexar County Sheriff's office spokesman said.
The crash occurred at around 7:30 a.m. at North Foster Road and Candlemeadow, which is near the entrance to the school parking lot, said Louis Antu, the Sheriff's Office public information officer.
A San Antonio ISD school bus driver was killed, authorities confirmed. The Judson ISD bus driver sustained minor injuries and was taken to a hospital.
Five students also received minor injuries. Two were transported to a Santa Rosa Hospital for minor bumps and bruises, authorities said. Children in the others were treated on scene and picked up by family members.
Investigators said the SAISD was northbound when it went out of control, jumped a median curb and struck a southbound Judson ISD bus. The Judson bus was carrying 59 students, none higher than the third grade.
A Judson ISD spokesperson said all students on their bus were taken to Masters Elementary School where they were checked out by a medical team.
The SAISD bus then continued onward and went through a fence before coming to rest in a yard.
The SAISD bus was carrying five children, and the Judson bus was carrying 59 students, none higher than the third grade.
"The San Antonio bus was going northbound on Foster, the Judson bus was going southbound on Foster. The information that we have from a witness said that they noticed the San Antonio bus started swerving, appearing to lose control," said Lt. Jose Trevino with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. "It jumped the median curb and crossed into the southbound lanes and collided head-on with the Judson school bus. The San Antonio bus kept going and then collided, and came to rest at the fence behind right behind where I'm standing."
Investigators say the SAISD bus driver, 63-year-old Delores Martinez, was thrown from her seat, but was not thrown out of the bus. They said she was killed instantly when the buses hit each other.
Officials at SAISD said Martinez began working for the district as a bus driver assistant in 1999. They said she moved into the bus driver position in 2000.
The children on the SAISD bus were headed to a bus transfer point to attend Judson ISD schools, SAISD spokeswoman Leslie Price said.
The students are part of a federal program allowing homeless children to continue to attend school where they've been attending, Price said.
The area around the school was jammed with traffic for a couple of hours Monday morning as emergency officials worked to clear the scene.
Witnesses say they were shocked to see two yellow buses involved in the accident. They acted as good samaritans by running to the scene and plucking children from the buses. Robert Thomas lives next door and says the crash was so loud he thought for sure it was an 18 wheeler. Instead he came out of his home to find the buses and one of driver's dead. "She was slumped over," said Thomas. "I could tell just by looking it was not good."
Another mother also panicked when she witnessed the accident. She says even though her own daughter was not on the bus, her heart still sank. "My first reaction was oh my God," said the mother. "I was really nervous about it."
