A devastating rollover crash on the first day of school in Austin, Texas, has left at least 12 people injured, including several children, and sparked growing concern among parents across the state.
A Nightmare Start to the School Year
The yellow school bus, carrying 42 children and one adult from the Leander Independent School District, veered off a rural road and overturned on Wednesday. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred before any of the students had been dropped off at home.
Dramatic images from the scene showed the bus lying on its side, its roof crushed and several windows shattered.
Travis County officials confirmed that one person sustained life-threatening injuries, while two others suffered potentially life-threatening injuries. It has not yet been revealed whether the most severely injured were students or the bus driver.
Superintendent Calls It a “Tragedy”
Leander ISD Superintendent Bruce Gearing described the crash as “a tragedy” and acknowledged the emotional toll it has taken on a community that “has been through so much already this summer with the floods.”
“This part of our Leander ISD family has been through so much already this summer,” he said. “This tragedy this afternoon is really breaking our hearts.”
Not the Only School Bus Crash That Day
Shockingly, the Austin crash wasn’t the only school bus accident in Texas on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, another bus carrying 58 children overturned in Cleveland, Texas. Although 16 people were left with minor injuries, several children were taken to the hospital out of caution. That crash marked the second accident involving Cleveland ISD buses in just one week.
The incidents have left many Texas parents rattled, including Marisol Castillo, who had just enrolled her children as school bus riders.
“It was concerning because I put them as bus riders, and now I’m thinking about it,” Castillo told KHOU-TV.
Investigation Ongoing
As of now, officials have not released details about why the Austin bus left the road and flipped, but the severity of the wreck has prompted renewed scrutiny on school transportation safety measures.
Authorities continue to investigate both crashes.