EDGECOMBE Co., N.C. -Highway Patrol charged the driver of a school bus that flipped the vehicle on its side and injured 19 students on Friday.
WITN reports the driver ran off the road and the bus landed on its side. There were 20 total students on board.
Troopers say the crash happened around 7:20 a.m. on Stallings Road in Edgecombe County.
The bus was from Carver Elementary School and WITN reports that troopers said 13 children were taken to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville.
Six other students were taken to Vidant Edgecombe Hospital in Tarboro.
Highway Patrol says one child’s injuries are serious but non-life threatening.
Sheriff James Knight told WITN that the driver, Julianne Bridgers swerved to avoid a deer that ran out in front of the bus.
Troopers charged the 40-year-old driver with reckless driving.
David Saulter called 911 after hearing the squealing of the bus tires. Saulter then ran out to help Bridgers get students out of the overturned bus.
“The bus driver was passing them out of the window and I was taking them out the window,” Saulter told WITN. “Then I got in the bus for the one that they carried to the hospital first and helped her take that kid out.”
