Huntingdon, Tennessee, became the scene of a deadly school transportation crash on Friday, when officials said two students died and at least seven other people were injured after a school bus collided with other vehicles on Highway 70 in Carroll County. Maj. Travis Plotzer, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Highway Patrol, said details of the crash were still being sorted out, but it appeared a Tennessee Department of Transportation dump truck did not contribute to the crash itself.
Plotzer said the crash involved a Tennessee Department of Transportation dump truck, a Chevrolet Trailblazer and the school bus, and took place at about noon. The cause of the crash was under investigation. Plotzer said there were a total of 25 students and five adults on the bus.
Officials announced the students’ deaths during a news conference and said at least seven other people were taken by air ambulance to hospitals in Tennessee. The nature of their injuries was not immediately disclosed. Plotzer called the crash “a parent’s worst nightmare.”
The bus was traveling as part of a field trip organized by the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, which said the bus carried students and employees from Kenwood Middle School in Clarksville to Jackson, Tennessee. Plotzer said the crash’s details were still being worked through as responders evaluated the injured.
In Nashville, a Vanderbilt Health spokesperson said four people were taken to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and were in stable condition Friday. In Carroll County, Kim Alexander, a spokesperson for Baptist Memorial Hospital-Carroll County, said another 19 people were taken to the hospital; Alexander said all were evaluated and released, though it was unclear how many actually were injured.
School officials said counselors would be available starting Monday. Karen Miller, the school’s principal, wrote in a message shared with families on Facebook that the crash was an “unimaginable tragedy,” and encouraged parents to be attentive to their child’s emotional needs as students process the deaths of their classmates, saying: “Please continue to pray with us for our students, families, faculty, and staff,” and, “I am grateful for the strength of our Kenwood community, and I trust we will all support each other during this difficult time.”