NJ elementary school bus disappeared for nearly an hour after driver suffered medical emergency
Authorities and district officials responded immediately when a school bus full of children disappeared for nearly an hour on its way to an elementary school in New Jersey.
The bus took the kids to Mt. Horeb School in Warren Township Thursday morning but never reached its destination, the district and police said in a statement.
“School and district officials immediately begin working with the district transportation provider and the Warren Township Police Department to locate the bus,” the statement said.
The bus was found shortly thereafter. District Superintendent Matthew Mingle and Warren Police Chief William Keane said in the statement that the driver, who has not been identified, suffered a medical emergency and became disoriented. The driver “left Warren and pulled into a parking lot in Bridgewater”, a township about 6 miles from the school.
While pulling into the parking lot, the driver crashed into a parked vehicle, the statement said.
Bridgewater Police Chief John Mitzak told NBC New York the 80-year-old bus driver hit the back of a flatbed trailer. The bus was found nearly an hour after it went missing, the news station reported.
“The officers (…) saw that the driver was still trying to maneuver the bus. They got on the bus, parked it, moved the driver to another seat, then they started to escort the kids off the bus,” he said.
About 20 children, ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade, were on the bus, according to the leader. Mingle and Keane said none of the children were injured and were put on a new bus and taken to school.