Schools Chief After Train Crashes Into Bus: 'My Heart Is Broken'

One student dead, 2 injured
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 26, 2019 5:30 AM CST
One Student Dead, 2 Injured After Train Crashes Into School Bus
Youth pastors sing at a vigil at Athens First United Methodist Church after a train struck a school bus on Friday in Athens, Texas.   (Cory McCoy/Tyler Morning Telegraph via AP)

One student was killed and two other individuals were injured after an East Texas school bus was hit by a train on Friday, authorities say. The Tyler Morning Telegraph reported the collision took place around 4pm, when the bus was at a train crossing in Athens, located about 70 miles southeast of Dallas. At a presser Friday evening, Athens Police Chief Buddy Hill says a 13-year-old male middle school student was killed, per the AP. A 9-year-old girl in elementary school was injured and flown to a Dallas hospital, where she was in critical but stable condition. No other students were on the bus, according to the school district.

The bus driver was also injured and taken to a hospital, where he's in stable condition, Hill says. "My heart is broken for the families," says Athens school district Superintendent Blake Stiles. The names of the two students and the bus driver weren't immediately released. Authorities were still determining a cause of the collision. Hill says there were no wooden gate arms or warning lights at the train crossing where the collision took place.

(More bus accident stories.)

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