A 13-year-old boy has died after a bus crash Thursday on Interstate 77 South in Chester County, the coroner’s office confirmed to our sister station WSOC-TV.
The S.C. Highway Patrol said the crash happened just before 2 p.m. near Exit 55 (Highway 97), and all southbound lanes were blocked.
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The three buses were from the Lexington County Schools District 2, and officials there said they were carrying students from Pine Ridge Middle School.
They were returning home after a field trip to the NASCAR Hall of Fame when a tire blew. Troopers said the bus then hit a guardrail and overturned.
During a prayer vigil at Pine Ridge Middle School Friday, a school board member also confirmed the victim who died in the crash was a student.
Board members told Channel 9 Pine Ridge Middle is on spring break but officials are planning to have counselors available at the school for students on Friday.
EMS and fire teams responded as mutual aid to the rescue. Five medical helicopters were at the scene, too.
According to the Lexington Two School District, roughly 35 students and four adults were transported for further medical evaluation, including a few from the two other buses that maneuvered to avoid the accident.
“I can confirm there were multiple injuries, but I do not know the specifics regarding those injuries,” said Hunter Pringle with the Chester County Sheriff’s Office.
The other two buses went to Fairfield County to meet with parents.
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Channel 9 reporter Almiya White spoke with a parent who said she received a message from her son as the accident unfolded.
“The text messages said, ‘Hey, the bus flipped over, but I’m OK,’” parent Tiffany Porterfield recalled.
Porterfield said she was sad for the parents of the children who were injured.
“No parent wants to get that—no one wants to get that text message or that phone call that their child is injured and you’re not there. You have to find a way to get them,” Porterfield explained.
White also spoke with a student who wasn’t on the bus that crashed; however, a lot of his classmates were.
“I heard everybody scream and all that. I looked up, and I saw that the bus was flipped over, and I thought we were going to flip too because it started to swerve. We were all scared,” said student Welsey Willis. “Strangers came to help us off the road. And some of the kids, when they came by, who were injured, were on the stretcher.”
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster released a statement regarding this incident, saying:
“Today’s school bus accident in Chester County is a tragedy no family should ever have to endure. Peggy and I are heartbroken. Please join us in praying for the victim, their family, a speedy recovery for those injured, and the entire Lexington Two community. All of South Carolina is with you.”
No additional details have been made available.
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