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DALE — One child and one adult male were killed in a Friday collision in Bastrop County, according to the Department of Public Safety.
A concrete truck, traveling eastbound, collided with a Hays Consolidated Independent School District school bus carrying Tom Green Elementary pre-K students Friday, March 22 at around 2 p.m. The accident happened on Highway 21 between Farm to Market 812 and Poco Loco.
According to Sgt. Deon Cockrell, Texas Department of Public Safety, a school bus with 44 preschool students and 11 adults was headed to a field trip, and was hit by a concrete truck. A black Dodge Charger was behind the bus and was also involved in the accident.
"The school bus was traveling to a school event, actually a field trip, when the vehicle traveled into the school bus' lane and struck the school bus," Cockrell said.
The bus rolled over and landed on its side. Cockrell said the Charger ran into the back of the school bus and possibly part of the concrete truck.
One male child died and the driver of the Charger died as a result of the accident. Both the cement truck and the Charger only had one passenger. The driver of the cement truck was being questioned and was no longer on the scene at the time of the press conference.
Cockrell said DPS officials will investigate the incident, but have no evidence that any driver was under the influence or was distracted.
"Anything is possible at this time," Cockrell said. "It's still preliminary, so we'll find out as the investigation goes on."
He said there is still investigation into if the bus had seat belts. Cockrell said the entire scene will be reconstructed as a part of the investigation, and could take several weeks.
Kevin Parker, Austin-Travis County Emergency Management Services division chief, said first responders evaluated 53 patients. Four of the injured were transported by helicopter, while six were transported on the ground by vehicle with potential serious injuries. Ten patients were taken to children's hospitals with minor injuries, and the remainder had minor injuries or did not require transport Parker said.
"We did an on-scene triage and continuous triage as we were getting units available to move those folks," Parker said.
"This involved approximately nine EMS agencies. We are very near the county line, and requested mutual aid request," Parker said. "We sent five ambulances, two commanders and two chiefs to the scene along with multiple other agencies that provided mutual aid."
Parker said responders worked with the Capital Area Trauma Regional Advisory Council to coordinate patient drop-offs to ensure hospitals weren't overloaded.
"It's difficult when you find children this young involved in a crash, especially when there is a deceased or major injury," Cockrell said. "The school came out, they took care of the children, they reunified the children their family members."
According to a Hays CISD statement, parents and others affected are being contacted directly. The district said it will make information available at www.hayscisd.net/tgesbus.
