Students, bus driver injured in fatal crash

WENATCHEE, Wash. — Forty-three students and the driver of a school bus were taken to the hospital following a fatal collision involving the bus, a truck and a car on Thursday morning, KOMO reports.

Investigators told the news source that a large box truck appears to have collided head-on with the car and then careened head-on into the school bus. Trooper Darren Wright of the Washington State Patrol told KOMO that the driver of the car was killed in the crash. Chief Jim Oatey of Douglas County Fire District 4 said that at least seven other people were "heavily injured" in the accident.

The school bus was operated by the Orondo School District, according to KOMO. State troopers told the news outlet the two occupants of the truck as well as the students and school bus driver were taken to the hospital to be checked out or treated for injuries.

Wright told KOMO the state patrol is trying to determine whether the truck driver was fatigued at the time of the accident, and that he crossed the center line of the roadway and struck the vehicles. Douglas County Sheriff Harvey Gjesdal said that the road was clear and dry at the time of the crash.

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