Police say the driver of a school bus that crashed in Chattanooga, Tennessee, killing six people, has been arrested and faces charges including vehicular homicide.
Five children were found dead on the bus and another died at a hospital, said Melydia Clewell, spokeswoman for the Hamilton County District Attorney’s office.
Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher says 24-year-old Johnthony Walker has been charged with five counts of vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.
The accident left the bright yellow school bus wrapped around a tree, mangled and nearly severed in two. Two hours after the crash, rescue teams were still sifting through the wreckage of the bus, which was resting on its side.
Police have said the bus crash sent 23 people to area hospitals and 35 students from Woodmore Elementary were on the bus Monday afternoon.
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“Right now it appears that one contributing factor may be speed but that is part of an active, ongoing investigation,” Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher said.
The students on the bus ranged from kindergarten through fifth grade.
Bloodied Woodmore Elementary School students lay on stretchers, while others walked away dazed with their parents after the crash, local news outlets reported. More than 20 children went to hospitals for their injuries, according to Fletcher.
Emergency responders needed almost two hours to get all the children off the bus.
Television cameras showed emergency vehicles still there late into the night, and the National Transportation Safety Board tweeted that a team would be heading to Chattanooga on Tuesday morning to investigate.
Television stations reported that people lined up to donate blood and some donors were asked to make appointments for Tuesday.
Kirk Kelly, interim superintendent for Hamilton County schools, said classes would be held Tuesday with counsellors available for students and staff.
Fletcher said the families of the children who died had been notified but police would not release their names because they were juveniles.
“Our hearts go out, as well as the hearts of all these people behind me, to the families, the neighbourhood, the school, for all the people involved in this, we assure you we are doing everything we can,” Fletcher said.
At the state capitol in Nashville, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam called the crash “a tragic event” and offered assistance.
“We’re going to do everything we can to assist in any way,” Haslam said. “It’s a sad situation anytime there’s a school bus with children involved, which there is in this case.”
With files from Reuters and The Associated Press
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