GRANTHAM – Twelve elementary school students were uninjured in a school bus crash on Route 10 South Tuesday morning, while one person involved was hospitalized.
At around 8:20 a.m., Grantham Police responded to the incident, which involved a school bus serving the Croydon School District with a driver and 12 elementary school students on board and a four-door sedan with a driver and one passenger, Grantham Police Chief John Parsons told the Valley News in an interview.
Assisting Grantham Police in response to the crash were Grantham Fire EMS, the Hanover Police Department, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department, the Springfield Police Department, Lebanon ambulance, New London ambulance, Newport Fire EMS, Croydon Fire EMS and Springfield Fire EMS.
“We believe the sedan was on Route 10 South going to turn on [Route] 114 and the school bus was traveling north on Route 10,” Parsons said.
The school bus sustained damage throughout the front and right front corner wheel area, Parsons said. The front of the sedan “was all crushed in and then it got pushed back” into the front of Sugar River Kitchens, Bath & Flooring at 368 Route 10 South, he added.
Reached by phone, an employee at Sugar River Kitchens stated that the business had no comment.
All 12 students, along with the school bus driver, were uninjured and evaluated on scene by medical personnel.
The driver of the sedan, whom Parsons was unable to identify, was transported to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
“I don’t know the extent of the injuries,” Parsons said.
The passenger of the sedan was uninjured, he added.
Parsons was unable to share further details Tuesday afternoon regarding the circumstances surrounding the crash and whether any criminal charges will be pursued.
“The investigation is still ongoing,” he said.
According to Aaron McKeon, chair of the Croydon School Board, the driver of the school bus was not issued a citation.
The school bus was en route to Kearsarge Elementary in New London, McKeon wrote in an email to the Valley News.
“As soon as the accident became known, Shawn Douglass of the Croydon Fire Department attended to the students until additional support arrived, including a medical doctor who examined each child individually,” McKeon said. “Two members of the Croydon School District administration immediately began notifying the families of students involved.”
