ROCKDALE COUNTY, Ga. — Dozens of Rockdale County high school athletes and staff members were treated for injuries after a bus crash while returning home from a football game.
One student who spoke to Channel 2 Action News said it was a chaotic, difficult scene to watch as emergency responders worked to rescue those on board.
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The crash happened shortly before 11 p.m. Friday along Highway 138 at Interstate 20 in Conyers.
Those on board included some members of the Salem High School football team, as well as trainers and coaches as they drove back from from their game against Greater Atlanta Christian School in Norcross.
Markelia Knight, a recent graduate from another school in Rockdale County said she was eating out with friends when they heard a loud boom.
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That’s when she saw the crash’s aftermath.
“I did see a lot of kids getting picked up and being put into the ambulance, I saw a lot of students with neck braces on and limping and blood gushing from their knees going down,” Knight said. “I see all the parents, kids, students, kids, they were running toward the scene because it was a Salem High School bus, it was a game they were coming from.”
In a statement from Rockdale County Public Schools, officials said 22 Salem High School students and three staff members were taken to several area hospitals for treatment.
The bus that flipped had 17 athletes, seven trainers, two coaches and the driver on board, the district said.
According to the Georgia State Patrol, bus driver Walter Hackett, 74 of Conyers, was exiting eastbound I-20 and attempting to make a right turn onto Highway 138 when he lost control of the bus.
It traveled across both directions of Highway 138, hitting a Kia Soul before spinning completely around and flipping on the road’s shoulder, the GSP said.
Hackett and the driver of the Kia, 35-year-old Calvin Harling of Covington, went both taken to the hospital. A student was also flown to a hospital on a Life Flight helicopter. Their condition is currently unknown.
Investigators have not said what caused the bus driver to lose control.
“We are deeply grateful that there were no fatalities and that many have been treated and released,” Rockdale County Public Schools Superintendent Stephanie Johnson said in a statement.
The crash remains under investigation by the Georgia State Patrol.
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