Christian School Bus Flips in Accident; No Deaths
A bus full of both child and adult passengers heading to a Christian camp flipped on Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania Sunday afternoon. Thankfully, though roughly two dozen people were mildly to moderately injured, no one was killed in the accident.
The bus from Cumberland Valley Christian School was loaded with passengers from the Open Door Church in Chambersburg, according to The Associated Press. They were headed to Men O'Lan Camp in Quakertown, nearly 150 miles away, though they didn't make it far before the incident occurred.
Police are still investigating the accident, which, according to TheRecordHerald.com, shut down part of the interstate for over four hours. But reports say that 79-year-old Edward Shaffer of Hagerstown, Md., may be at fault. While driving down the interstate, he reportedly tried to pass the bus on the left but swerved in front of it when he realized too late that another car was already in the passing lane. Bus driver Joseph Henderson, 52, then struck the passenger's side of Shaffer's Cadillac, sending it into a ditch. The bus also went partially into the ditch before hitting a guardrail and flipping onto its roof.
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State police later reported that nearby motorists assisted with removing the passengers from the bus while firefighters and emergency medical services from multiple stations rushed to the scene. Shaffer and three children on the bus apparently were trapped by the wreckage and needed the help of emergency crews in order to be freed.
Mike Sanders, pastor of the Open Door Church, was relieved to know that everyone was still alive. “We are very thankful to God for his protection of the children and the workers,” he said, as reported by TheRecordHerald.comout of Waynesboro, Pa. “I want to thank all the citizens who stopped and help pull the children out of the bus before emergency crews arrived. And finally, I want to thank all the policemen and firefighters on their great work and display of compassion.”
The victims on the bus were both adults and children between the ages of 9 and 12, according to reports. Conflicting accounts of the exact number injured came out after the accident, with the state police saying that 23 people total were injured in the crash while Summit Health spokesperson Jessica Walter said there were 25 in all. More than a dozen were transported to Chambersburg Hospital, while around half a dozen others went to Waynesboro Hospital. There were no life-threatening injuries and all of the patients have now been discharged from the two medical facilities.
On the school's website, Sanders again thanked everyone who prayed for and helped with the accident, this time including the two hospitals, adding that everyone should “give thanks every day for your family and friends.”
