11 injured after large tree falls on school bus in Tewksbury Township
TEWKSBURY TOWNSHIP New Jersey (WABC) -- Several students were injured when a large tree fell on the front end of a school bus in Readington on Friday morning.
The incident happened in the area of Fairmount Road East and Addison Drive in Tewksbury Township around 7 a.m.
Eleven patients with minor injuries -- 10 students and the driver -- were transported to a nearby medical center for further evaluation and to be reunited with their parents.
A group of garbage collectors working nearby are being hailed as heroes for racing to the scene and helping to get the kids off the bus.
"I heard the bus driver had a little bump on her head, they took the kids and everybody to the hospital just to evaluate but the real heroes are my garbage men, picking up the garbage, they saw it happen, they ran up the street and they evacuated everyone off the bus -- in a second," witness Paul Camara said.
Both of the garbage collectors spoke to Eyewitness News about the frightening seconds after they heard the tree fall on the bus.
"I heard this bang, and I turned around I looked and saw the brake lights of the bus," said Charles Henderson of Interstate Waste Services. "I thought someone had hit the bus, so I ran up, and then I saw the tree laying on the bus. The first thing I did was run to the kids on the back of the bus. I opened the door, I started taking the kids out, I got the kids out on the side of the street, and I said to Mario, 'Mario, hurry up.'"
"It was a very scary, frightening scene - the tree on top of the bus, and we knew that there were kids inside and the bus driver, but everyone made it safe, and there were no major injuries," said Mario Valverde of Interstate Waste Services.
They had to go back in a second time to get the driver who was still inside.
The superintendent of Tewksbury Township Schools said everyone has since been released from the hospital.
"Due to the excellent skills and calm demeanor of our school bus driver, a potentially disastrous situation was averted and nobody was seriously injured," Superintendent Jennifer Shouffler said. "We wish to extend a heartfelt thank you to our driver as well as the emergency crews and others who helped escort our students off the bus to safety."
It was not yet known which school the students were going to at the time of the crash.
It is also not clear if high winds brought the tree down, but crews cleaning up the tree said the root system was very poor.
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