A Georgia high school football team’s trip home from a Friday night game ended in chaos when their school bus overturned on a busy highway near Atlanta, sending 25 students and staff members to hospitals and triggering a massive emergency response.
The crash happened around 10:48 p.m. on October 23 near Interstate 20 and Highway 138 in Rockdale County, approximately 25 miles east of downtown Atlanta.
The bus was carrying members of the Salem High School football program in Conyers, who were returning from an away game against Greater Atlanta Christian School in Norcross.
According to Rockdale County Public Schools, 27 people were aboard the bus, including 17 football players, seven student athletic trainers, two coaches and the driver.
What should have been a routine ride home quickly became a frightening emergency.
Georgia State Patrol investigators said the 74-year-old bus driver lost control while exiting Interstate 20 and attempting to turn right onto Highway 138.
The bus crossed both directions of traffic before colliding with a black Kia Soul and overturning near Old Salem Road.
Investigators are still working to determine what caused the driver to lose control.
Witnesses described hearing a tremendous crash before discovering the overturned school bus surrounded by debris.
One woman who was at a nearby gas station told WSB-TV that she heard a loud boom and turned to see the bus lying on its side.
Emergency crews rushed to the intersection, where firefighters, police officers and paramedics worked to assist passengers and secure the scene.
Video from the aftermath showed the school bus with extensive damage to its front end, broken windows and part of its roof crushed inward.
The wreckage prompted authorities to close portions of Highway 138 while rescue workers attended to the injured and investigators examined the crash site.
As news of the accident spread, nearby hospitals were warned to prepare for a potentially large number of patients.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Arthur M. Blank Hospital was placed on standby for a possible mass casualty event, allowing medical personnel to prepare for an influx of injured students.
Initial reports suggested at least 12 people had been hurt, but school officials later confirmed that 25 students and staff members had been transported to hospitals for medical evaluation and treatment.
The updated figure included 22 students and three adults.
One student was flown to a hospital by medical helicopter, while other injured passengers were transported by ambulance or taken for treatment by their parents.
Both the school bus driver and the driver of the Kia were also taken to hospitals, according to Georgia State Patrol.
Fortunately, authorities have reported no fatalities.
By Saturday morning, school officials said many of those transported for treatment had already been released from hospitals, offering some encouraging news to worried families.
However, the full extent of everyone’s injuries had not yet been publicly disclosed.
Salem High School head football coach Fredrick Green survived the crash and was reportedly doing well.
In the hours after the wreck, Green worked to determine which hospitals had received his players, while school administrators helped families locate their children.
Authorities also used a nearby parking lot as a gathering and reunification area, allowing parents and students to reconnect after the frightening ordeal.
Rockdale County Schools Superintendent Stephanie Stephens Johnson visited students receiving treatment at Grady Memorial Hospital and Piedmont Rockdale Hospital.
In a statement Saturday, Johnson expressed gratitude to emergency personnel and medical teams who responded to the accident.
She also urged the community to keep the students, staff members and their families in their thoughts as they recover.
The district said school officials would continue supporting those affected and sharing information as it became available.
The crash occurred after a Friday night football game, a longstanding tradition for high schools throughout Georgia.
For Salem High School, the evening was supposed to end with players returning home after representing their school on the field.
Instead, families spent the night anxiously waiting for updates as ambulances transported students to hospitals across the Atlanta area.
The incident has also raised questions about exactly how the bus lost control while exiting the interstate.
Georgia State Patrol is leading the investigation with assistance from local law enforcement.
Investigators have not announced any charges or identified a specific mechanical problem or other factor responsible for the wreck.
For now, the focus remains on the recovery of the injured students and staff members.
Although the damage to the bus was extensive and the emergency response was enormous, the fact that no deaths have been reported has brought relief to a community that spent much of the night fearing the worst.
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