ORANGETOWN - Two drivers and one student were taken to hospitals after a school bus crash in Pearl River this morning.

The crash occurred around 7:35 a.m. near the intersection of Route 304 and Washington Avenue. On the bus were eight students who attend Albertus Magnus High School in Bardonia.

The bus was heading to the school from Chestnut Ridge when it collided with a Mercedes-Benz at that intersection. One student was taken to Nyack Hospital after hurting her chin in the crash. The drivers of both vehicles were taken to hospitals.

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Ketty Benne, of Chestnut Ridge, rushed to the scene after her husband called her. He had received a text from their 14-year-old daughter, Amelie, who was on the bus when the crash occurred.

When she arrived, her daughter and her fellow Albertus students were still on the bus, being evaluated by Rockland Paramedic EMTs.

"The kids all got hurt," Benne said. "They hit their heads. They're complaining of head and neck pain. And us parents were all shaken up, obviously."

A knot of parents waited behind an Orangetown police cruiser that one EMT used as a desk to get the students' information. After about 45 minutes, the students stepped gingerly from the bus, their parents walking beside them, their faces showing their concern.

One girl, who declined to give her name, complained of a sore knee, but said the kids on the bus handled the mishap well.

"Nobody passed out, nobody was panicking," she said.

When Benne went to help Amelie off the bus, she found her daughter wearing a neck brace. EMTs said she needed to be seen at Nyack Hospital. The rest of the students were released to their parents.

The front end of the bus was smashed in, and first responders had to pry the driver out. That driver was taken to Nyack Hospital. The Mercedes-Benz driver was taken to Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

Orangetown police kept traffic moving slowly through the area, a major north-south artery for the busy morning rush.

Orangetown Police Officer Kevin Drain said the investigation is under way. The bus, operated by Spring Valley-based Student Bus Company was heading east on Washington Avenue and turning north on Pearl Street, which is also known as Route 304. The Mercedes was heading south on 304 and appeared to be making a turn onto Washington.

Albertus Magnus officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

A call to Student Bus seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Staff writer Matt Spillane contributed to this report.

Twitter: @PeterKramer