Yesterday evening, a New Jersey school bus carrying students met with a harrowing incident, veering off its course and overturning on the Garden State Parkway in Montvale, leading to injuries to 15 of its occupants. According to New Jersey State Police, the bus, which journeyed from Lakewood to Rockland County, New York, found itself upended shortly past 7:30 p.m. near Exit 171, CBS News reported.
Rescue teams responded quickly, working relentlessly to assist passengers, including a 14-year-old boy who was badly injured and trapped beneath the overturned bus. Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali shared in a social media post this morning that the teen is fighting for his life. Emergency personnel pulled together from both New Jersey and Rockland County to administer aid, and although one party suffered grave wounds, while the others encountered a spectrum of minor injuries, all are expected to survive, FOX 5 New York conveys.
Witness account on scene painted a vivid yet somber picture of the aftermath, with Liam Deacy detailing to CBS News the bloodied state of one individual: "I saw a head injury, like a lot of blood and stuff. It just did not look good. I'm praying for all the families and everybody involved." Another witness, Laura Santacruz, said, "Outside our window you could see somebody was being loaded onto an ambulance. It broke my heart."
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy was briefed on the tragic incident while a large group of first responders worked to address the aftermath of the crash. Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the accident, with updates expected from both officials and emergency responders, according to information shared by Mayor Ghassali.
