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SEARCHA pickup truck driven by a 16-year-old student in Altoona, Alabama, collides with a school bus. The teen is killed, and the bus driver and aide are injured.
ALTOONA, Ala. — A teenage driver was killed and two adults were injured in a crash between a truck and a school bus on Thursday.
According to the Etowah County Sheriff's Office, a pickup truck driven by 16-year-old Trenton Blake Gibbs collided with an Etowah County Schools bus at about 2:45 p.m. The crash took place on a highway in Altoona.
Two students on the school bus were not injured, but they were taken to local hospitals for precautionary measures. An aide on the bus was transported to a hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
The drivers of the bus and the truck were both airlifted to hospitals in Birmingham, Alabama. Gibbs, a student at West End High School, died in the hospital shortly before 5 p.m. on Thursday.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Gibbs family during this difficult time,” said Dr. Alan Cosby, superintendent of Etowah County Schools. “Our prayers also go out to the bus driver, aide, students, and their families.”
Chaplains from the Etowah County Sheriff's Office were on hand at West End High School on Thursday night, when the commencement ceremony for graduating seniors was held.
“Losing a loved one is never easy, especially a child. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved,” Sheriff Todd Entrekin said. “My office will do our best to support the school system and students in the coming days, weeks, and months ahead.”
A statement from the Sheriff's Office did not indicate who was at fault in the crash.
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