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School bus driver following crash: ‘All I could think of was keeping it upright’

Posted at 12:14 PM, Jul 23, 2015
and last updated 2015-07-23 20:27:11-04

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. — A Wyoming Public Schools bus was involved in a crash Thursday on southbound US-131 in Kalamazoo County.

US-131 was closed for several hours but reopened just before 4:00pm.  The crash happened near D Avenue just before Noon.

Michigan State Police say that a car tried to pass on the right of a van when they collided in front of the bus.   The car veered into the median and rolled over.  The van got tangled up with the school bus, sliding into the side of the bus, pushing it off the road.

Jim Elliott, the bus driver, tells us “all I could think of was keeping it upright and not rolling over.”

There were 24 kids on the bus and two adults. None of them were injured. Wyoming Superintendent Thomas Reeder tells us that  four buses were passing through Kalamazoo County as part of a summer trip.  All the students were released to their parents.

The driver of the car that rolled over suffered minor injuries.

A second crash between two trucks has happened north of the school bus scene near 106th.