At least 17 people were injured when a school bus taking students home after school in central Texas was involved in a serious accident. The Leander Independent School District (ISD) school bus was traveling south along Nameless Road in Leander, about 30 miles northwest of Austin, at the end of the school day with 42 students and one adult on board when it left the roadway and rolled onto its side, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Highway Patrol Sergeant Billy Ray said in amedia briefing Aug. 13. "At approximately 3:15 p.m., we received reports from the 911 center of the school bus rollover from Leander ISD," Austin-Travis County EMS Assistant Chief Kevin Parker said during the briefing. "Upon arriving on scene, our paramedics and firefighters, and police officers identified 43 total patients from the collision. Of those, 12 needed to be transported." Images from the crash show the bus lying on its side with its exterior badly damaged and dented. Deadly crash:6 killed in crash involving Amish van after truck runs stop sign Twelve people, including the bus driver, were taken to area hospitals, some by StarFlight helicopters, due to the remote location of the crash site, Parker said. The need to transport the injured via helicopter did not "indicate the severity of the patient's conditions," Parker asserted, but was related to the distance between the medical centers and crash site. Parker said one person sustained life-threatening injuries, while two sustained potentially life threatening injuries.Leander ISD Superintendent Bruce Gearing, in an update, said 17 people were transported by Austin-Travis County EMS and two people sustained serious injuries, but all were now in stable condition. A reunification center was set up at Round Mountain Baptist Church and those not requiring hospital transport were taken to the church for further evaluation. "The kids generally were doing OK as we gathered them in the location that we have and the parents are being taken care of as well," Chief Emergency Management Coordinator at Travis County Eric Carter said during the briefing. Authorities said the 2024 Bluebird school bus, which primarily transports students out of Bagdad Elementary School, was being operated by a "seasoned veteran bus driver" and was equipped with state-regulated seatbelts. It is not immediately known what caused the bus to slip and roll over. Troopers with Texas DPS are investigating the crash, Ray said, adding more information will be released as it becomes available. Gearing, in his update, said all students were reunited with their families. "Our focus remains on student safety," Gearing said. The superintendent added the "Leander ISD family has been through so much already this summer with the floods," and the "tragedy this afternoon is really breaking our hearts." "We want each of those students and their families to know that our prayers are with them, our thoughts are with them, and we will do everything we can in our power to support them," Gearing said. "And we will be here for all of those students who are affected, their friends, and their families." Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Students, driver injured after school bus crash in Leander, Texas
