A school bus crash Tuesday morning in Rochester, New York claimed the life of the school bus driver and injured nine passengers.
A bus operated by Monroe School Transportation, Inc. was reportedly heading southbound on Hudson Avenue to School No. 9 just before 7 a.m. local time, when it sideswiped another school bus operated by First Student.
The First Student bus was heading northbound with three students on board, none of whom were injured. The Monroe bus continued on and struck a tree.
The Monroe driver, Edwin Rivera DeJesus, 30, was pinned inside the bus and was pronounced dead at the scene. A spokesperson for Monroe School Transportation told STN that while the official cause of death was undetermined at this report, Rochester police told the bus company it is likely that Dejesus did not die from the impact but from the medical emergency moments prior.
The passengers, including eight students between the ages of 8 and 11 and a female bus monitor in her forties, were transported to the University of Rochester Medical Center with injuries.
Mike Kamali, chair of emergency medicine at the University of Rochester, said in a press conference that some of the patients admitted sustained “orthopedic injuries” but that all patients were conscious and speaking when emergency services arrived at the scene.
He added that all were expected to make a full recovery.
“I am happy to report that of those patients all are doing well and in stable condition. We anticipate that some will be discharged today,” he said.
Monroe School Transportation confirmed to STN that as of Tuesday afternoon, the hospital had discharged four of the students.
The bus company said that DeJesus had both a clean driving record and health history. David Bonacci, company vice president and general manager, remembered him as very personable.
“Edwin was one of those guys that just was a great person, you wanted to be around him,” Bonacci said. “Very friendly, he was very well-liked, so they (colleagues) were very upset.”
