HALIBURTON COUNTY, Ont. – More than 20 students from a Toronto middle school were sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries on Monday after two school buses collided on their way to a camp in central Ontario.
The students from Don Valley Middle School were headed to Camp White Pine for a Grade 8 graduation trip when one bus rear-ended the other, according to the Toronto District School Board.
Police said the crash occurred just after 11 a.m. on Highway 118 near the camp in Haliburton County.
A total of 51 students and four staff were on board the two buses.
School board spokesman Ryan Bird said 21 students and two staff members were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Many of them have since been released, he added.
“It sounds like maybe bumps and bruises, maybe a bloody lip here and there, but it did not seem major in any way,” said Bird, adding that the students’ parents were notified.
The local hospital, Haliburton Highlands Health Services, increased staffing to deal with the incident, said president and CEO Carolyn Plummer.
The students involved in the crash will be staying at their camp as planned, but the board will assist them with leaving early if they choose to, Bird said.
The crash is being investigated.