AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — Five children and a bus aide were injured after a school bus crashed on the I-290 east in Amherst Friday morning.
The crash happened just before 8 a.m. between Harlem Road and Main Street and closed the Harlem Road on-ramp to the I-290. The right lane of the 290 eastbound near Exit 6, which is the Sheridan Drive off-ramp, was also shut down due to the crash.
In an update around noon, police said the crash involved a First Student bus and a pickup truck. The truck was attempting to merge into traffic and lost control and struck the bus causing it to overturn and go into the ditch. Seven people were on the bus — a driver, an aide, and five children. The aide was significantly injured and transported to ECMC, the five children suffered minor injuries and were taken to Oishei Children's Hospital for evaluation. Neither driver was injured.
According to police, the bus was transporting the children to the Beyond Learning Center, formerly known as the Cantalician Center for Learning.
A spokesperson from the Beyond Support Network provided the following statement to 7 News:
"On Friday morning, a school bus transporting Beyond Learning Center students crashed near the ramp from Harlem Road to the eastbound I-290. Any families with students on board were notified as we became aware of the situation. Thankfully, we are relieved to learn that the students involved are safe and are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
We are extremely thankful to the first responders and staff who acted quickly to remedy an understandably frightening situation. At this time our thoughts are with our students and their families and we hope for speedy recoveries for all involved."
First Student provided the following statement to 7 News:
“Our thoughts remain with all those affected by this incident, and we are thankful everyone on board our bus at the time should be okay.”
Anyone who witnessed the crash or may have video of what happened is asked to call the Amherst Police Accident Investigation Unit at (716) 689-1355.
