Parents Claim Driver in Fatal Iowa School Bus Fire Was Unfit

Glen and Natalie Klindt say in a newspaper interview that Donald Hendricks was physically unfit to drive the bus that caught fire on Dec. 12, killing him and their daughter, Megan Klindt.

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March 27, 2018

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The parents of a student who died in a school bus fire in December are claiming that the driver of the bus was unfit for the job, the Des Moines Register reports.

Glen and Natalie Klindt said in an interview with the newspaper on Monday that Donald Hendricks, 74, was physically unfit to drive a school bus. Hendricks and the Klindts' daughter, Megan, died in the Dec. 12 fire. Although Hendricks had reportedly passed a bus driver physical, the Klindts contend that he couldn't walk without a walker and wasn't able to unbuckle his seat belt during the fire, the Des Moines Register reports.

Riverside Community School District Superintendent Timothy Mitchell did not immediately respond to the Des Moines Register's request for an interview Monday. On March 2, the school district reportedly declined a request from the newspaper for records of complaints against Hendricks, stating that those records are exempt from Iowa's public records law.

Topics:bus fires Iowa Bus Safety Accidents Management Safety

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