STONY PLAIN, Alta. — A school bus with about three dozen students on board slid off an icy road and rolled onto its side Monday morning, but there were no serious injuries.
Police, emergency crews, school employees and members of the public responded quickly to help unload everyone after the accident about six kilometres north of Stony Plain, Alta., west of Edmonton.
“The bus was stopped to load a student,” Brian Hauptman, general manager of Golden Arrow School Buses, told CTV News.
“The student loaded, and then the driver pulled away from that stop. She took her foot off the brake and put it in neutral. The bus just kept sliding at a slow, slow speed. Unfortunately, because the ditch was so steep, you could see it … slowly go over on its side.”
Early information indicated the 34 students, ranging from kids in kindergarten to high school, were from the Evergreen Catholic Separate School and Parkland County School divisions.
Amy Quintal’s 11-year-old son, Brock, was one of the students on the bus. She said she had just dropped Brock off when she received a call from his aide. Brock is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair.
“Said a little prayer (and) went on my way to get him. It could have been much worse,” Quintal told CTV.
She said Brock was already off the bus by the time she arrived.
“They had already gotten all the students off safely.”
Brock’s chair is secured in the bus with four straps. He also wears a transportation belt. Quintal said he wasn’t hurt at all.
“I’m just thankful that the community came together.”
Students on the bus were being transported to several schools in the area, including Muir Lake School in Stony Plain.
Parkland School Division said icy road conditions caused the rollover. (CTV Edmonton, The Canadian Press)
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2019.
The Canadian Press