A tragic roadway collision has claimed the life of a driver after their car struck a school bus on Route 12 in Walpole, New Hampshire. The crash happened around 3:13 p.m. yesterday, in the vicinity of Connector Road.
The deceased driver, identified by Walpole police as 22-year-old Dietrich Kern Praska of Marlborough, was pronounced dead at the scene after his Saab 9-3 crossed the yellow center line and collided with the northbound school bus. Owned by the Fall Mountain School District, the bus was ferrying two students from Keene and driven by 65-year-old Marie Robbins, of Alstead, who was injured in the crash and subsequently airlifted to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. Police said, assisted at the scene by state police, Walpole and Westmoreland fire, as well as emergency medical services, according to NBC Boston.
The two children aboard the bus sustained minor injuries and were taken by ambulance to medical facilities; one to the Cheshire Medical Center in Keene and the other to Springfield Hospital in Vermont. The roadway was shuttered to traffic following the accident along Route 12 between Halls Crossing and Blackjack Crossing roads, reopening about four hours later, around 7:30 p.m.
In a separate report by WMUR, the police chief provided details indicating that the tragic incident took place as the bus was traveling from Keene with two students onboard. The impact of the crash has left a community in mourning and the Fall Mountain Regional School District coping with the sudden trauma experienced by its members. The cause of the collision remains under investigation, and authorities urge witnesses to come forth with information to aid their inquiry.
