WINSLOW — A crash Thursday afternoon involving a school bus of middle school children on their way to a basketball game resulted in only minor injuries, according to an official with the Winslow Fire Department.
The bus, belonging to Somerville-based Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12, was carrying students from Palermo Consolidated School who were traveling to Temple Academy in Waterville for a basketball game, Principal Stephanie Oliphant said.
She said about 15 to 20 students were on board.
“You can hear the parents. It’s not a phone call you want to get,” Oliphant said as parents huddled around an ambulance and an additional school bus at the scene. “You want to know your kids are safe.”
Oliphant said the driver of a pickup truck pulled out in front of the school bus driver, causing the crash at the intersection of routes 32 and 137, the latter also being Carter Memorial Drive.
A Maine State Police trooper at the scene referred a reporter to Winslow police dispatch for official information on what happened. A phone call there was not returned immediately.
The crash, reported around 3:45 p.m., appeared to involve the school bus and a pickup truck from Knox Yard Maintenance. A man who identified himself at the scene as a supervisor for the company declined to comment.
Names of the drivers were not immediately available.
Lt. Ben Loubier, of the Winslow Fire Department, also said he did not have specifics on what led to the crash, but said only minor injuries were reported. One child was taken to an area hospital for treatment, he said.
Loubier said it will be up to police to determine what charges, if any, might be brought up.
Oliphant said coaches were following the bus in their vehicles and were able to stop after the crash. Parents of all the students were notified, and many were able to pick their children up from the scene in Winslow.
“It’s a scary phone call to get at work,” said Teresa Potter, whose daughter, Karen, was on the bus. However, she said she won’t be worried about putting her daughter back on a bus with the same driver.
“He’s a good bus driver,” she said. “He saved them.”
Rachel Ohm — 612-2368
Twitter: @rachel_ohm
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