A Wednesday morning crash involving a Portales Municipal Schools bus and a commercial motor vehicle sent nine people to the hospital, including one with serious injuries, according to New Mexico State Police.
State Police said late Wednesday that the bus, which was traveling south on Roosevelt Road T, failed to yield at the N.M. 236 intersection and was hit by the commercial vehicle, which was carrying a full load of corn.
Police said about 17 students ranging in age from 6 to 15 were on the bus at the time of the wreck. Six students, along with the 61-year-old bus driver and the 28-year-old driver of the commercial vehicle, were taken to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
“One student was transported to an area hospital with severe injuries and was later airlifted to a Texas hospital,” according to police.
The Eastern New Mexico News reported late Wednesday afternoon that Portales Municipal Schools Superintendent Johnnie Cain said a Portales elementary student had suffered fractures and remained hospitalized in Lubbock. The girl was “doing fine” by Wednesday afternoon, Cain said, and the bus driver was “still under observation” at Roosevelt General Hospital in Portales.
Cain said most of the students on the bus were picked up by their parents.
The accident occurred before school began Wednesday. Police said the bus failed to yield “for reasons still under investigation.”
Kaycee May had two children on the bus, her 6-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son.
She learned of the wreck from Michael Terry, who manages the school system’s bus barn, and immediately went to the scene.
“Just seeing the bus and the semi there, my heart dropped to my stomach,” May said. “I couldn’t get out of my car and to the scene of the wreck fast enough.”
May said her children were sitting in the back seat of a first responder’s truck.
She said her daughter was fine, “just a little shaken up.” Her son was diagnosed with a mild concussion. May said the boy’s biggest concern was if the concussion would affect his reading ability.
“It was all more than a little nerve-wracking,” May said. “I can’t put it into words.”
Some information was distributed by Tribune Content Agency from the Eastern New Mexico News in Clovis.
