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YOU WONDER HOW THE INJURIES WERE NOT MORE SEVERE. THE SCHOOL LAST -- BUS SLAMMED INTO THE RUMPKE TRUCK ALONG 350. >> I HAVE A SCHOOL BUS THAT HAS REARENDED A GARBAGE TRUCK AND THE BUSES FULL OF KIDS. THERE ARE KIDS SITTING EVERY WHERE ON THE ROAD. BRIAN: IT WAS A COLLISION THAT NOT ONLY SHOOK THE STUDENTS ON THE BUS, BUT THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY. >> I HAVE A KID TRAPPED IN THE FRONT SEAT ON THE BUS. I CAN’T GET TO HIM. BRIAN: A GAPING HOLE WAS LEFT RIPPED IN THE FACE OF THIS SOUTH DEARBORN COUNTY SCHOOL BUS, A JARRING SCENE EVEN FOR RESPONDING OFFICERS. >> POLICE OFFICERS ARRIVED ON SCENE AND FOUND THERE WERE NUMEROUS INJURIES. THE SCHOOL BUS WAS FULL AT THE TIME. BRIAN: INDIANA STATE POLICE SHUT DOWN THE ROAD, AND STARTED GETTING 20 STUDENTS TO AMBULANCES. >> WE BELIEVE ALL OF THOSE INJURIES ARE ALL NON LIFE THREATENING IN NATURE. BRIAN: ON A LONG STRAIGHT STRETCH OF 350, THE SCHOOL BUS CARRYING MOSTLY SOUTH DEARBORN HIGH SCHOOL AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS HIT THE RUMPKE DUMP TRUCK FROM BEHIND. A RUMPKE SPOKESWOMAN SAYS THE GARBAGE TRUCK WAS STOPPED WHEN IT WAS HIT. >> WE LEARNED OUR DRIVER WAS OUTSIDE SERVICING A RESIDENTIAL STOP WHEN A SCHOOL BUS RAN INTO THE BACK OF GARBAGE TRUCK. BRIAN: THE DRIVER BY FLYING DEBRIS BUT NOT SERIOUSLY INJURED. >> IT CERTAINLY WOULD BE SPECULATION ON MY PART TO GUESS WHY THIS OCCURRED AND WHY THE BUS DRIVER DIDN’T SEE THE TRUCK PARKED THERE BUT WE’LL LOOK INTO IT TO SEE HOW THIS ALL HAPPENED. BRIAN: NOW INVESTIGATORS WILL TRY TO DETERMINE WHAT WENT WRONG WHEN A SCHOOL BUS SUDDENLY TOOK A DETOUR TO A NEAR DISASTE STILL LOTS OF QUESTIONS. THEY’LL TALK TO ALL OF THE STUDENTS ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON INSIDE THE BUS OR AROUND IT AT THE TIME OF THE CRAS MIKE: UNTIL PARENTS WERE WITH THEIR KIDS. MANY OF THEM WERE THINKING THE WORST. THEY GATHERED AT HIGHPOINT HEALTH HOSPITAL. SHEREE: THAT’S WHERE WLWT NEWS 5’S JOHN LONDON IS LIVE. JOHN. JOHN: THIS HOSPITAL GOT QUICK NOTICE TO BE READY. THE INITIAL INDICATION SENT THE EMERGENCY ROOM IN MOTION. THEY FULLY EXPECTED LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES. SEVENTH-GRADER DAKOTA JONES SHOWED US THE STITCH HE NEEDED ON THE BACK OF HIS HEAD. FIGURED THAT’S BETTER THAN A BROKEN ARM OR LEG. HE WAS ABOUT FIVE SEATS IN WHEN HIS NORMAL BUS RIDE WENT HAYWIRE. HE COULDN’T TELL WHY. >> I WAS ON MY PHONE PLAYING GAMES AND STUFF NEXT TO MY FRIEND AND ALL I SAW WAS DUST. AND THEN I HEARD NOISES, I HEARD PEOPLE SCREAMING. JOHN: THAT THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD WAS ONE OF TWENTY STUDENTS WHO WERE INJURED. >> HEAD AND NECK AND NON-EMERGENT SPINE INJURIES AS WELL AS SOME, SOME BROKEN BONES. JOHN: THAT’S AS SPECIFIC AS THE EMERGENCY ROOM DOC WOULD GET. PARENTS AND OTHER RELATIVES DESCRIBED THE SCENE AND SUBSEQUENT WORRY AS GUT-WRENCHING. >> SO, JORDAN WAS IN THE SEAT IN FRONT OF MANNY, WE CALL HIM MANNY, KADENCE, AND HE TRIED TO PULL HIM OUT. BUT, HE COULDN’T. I GUESS BECAUSE THE SEATS COLLAPSED INWARDS ON HIM. JOHN: THE SUPERINTENDENT EXPERIENCED A WAVE OF RELIEF ONCE HE KNEW NOTHING >> ABSOLUTELY. I THINK, YOU KNOW, FIRST WALKING ONTO THE SCENE NOT REALLY KNOWING WHAT TO EXPECT, PRETTY EYE-OPENING. JOHN: HIGHPOINT HEALTH WAS INITIALLY OVERWHELMED WITH FAMILIES IN THE AMBULANCE PORT AREA. THEY DIRECTED THEM TO THE LOBBY TO AWAIT WORD ABOUT GETTING TO SEE THEIR CHILDREN. PARENTS WHO HAD JUST RUSHED FROM THE WRECKAGE. >> I TOTALLY PANICKED, CRYING. IT WAS AWFUL. JOHN: AND YOUR FIRST THOUGHT WAS? >> WHERE’S MY SON? JOHN: HE IS OK. WALKING WITH FAMILY TOWARDS THE REST OF A FRIGHTENING, UPENDED SCHOOL DAY. QUITE A MORNING FOR ALL INVOLVED. HIGHPOINT IS IN THE THICK OF DEALING WITH INFLUENZA A AS WELL.

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After a school bus crashed into the back of a garbage truck Tuesday morning in Dearborn County, the tendency of parents was to think the worst until they were with their kids again.According to Highpoint Health Hospital, 20 students were hurt in the crash around 8 a.m.It happened on State Route 350 in Aurora. The bus was on an express route from Morris Hill en route to the Dearborn campus. The students involved were from several schools in the area, including two private ones.A Rumpke spokesperson said the driver was out of the truck assisting a customer when the school bus rear-ended it.Seventh-grader Dakota Jones showed us the stitch he needed to close a cut on the back of his head and said he figured it was better than a broken arm or leg.He was about five seats in when his normal bus ride went haywire and he couldn't tell why."I was on my phone playing games and stuff next to my friend and all I saw was dust and then I heard noises", he explained. "I heard people screaming."That 13-year-old calmly related what he experienced during an ordeal that remained under investigation and could have been much worse.Dr. Richard Cardosi, the director of the Highpoint Health Emergency Department, described the injuries to heads, necks and spines as minor, along with some broken bones."You know, we fully expected to see life-threatening injuries here," he stated with a sigh of relief.There were plenty of racing hearts.Shaun Jones, father of a student on board, said he doesn't even remember the drive to the hospital.Jordan Cole, 13, had the worst injury, at least one broken leg, and was listed in fair condition at Children's Hospital Medical Center.Christa Armbruster, his aunt, told us Jordan was in the seat in front of another of her nephews and that the seat had collapsed inward on him.The South Dearborn Schools superintendent experienced a wave of relief once he knew there had been no deaths or serious injuries."First walking onto the scene not really knowing what to expect, pretty eye-opening," said Superintendent Eric Lows.One woman remembered that the bus driver had transported her to school years ago. "Honestly, the first thing that went through my head was did something happen to him, did he have a heart attack? Like, because he's just, he's always been a good driver," she said. Lows, himself a parent, related how he understands the worry and inclination to rush right to where it happened."You want to be the first one, you know, to be there to take care of your child and you really have to stay away and let the medical professionals and law enforcement officials handle the situation as it occurs," he stated.HighPoint Health was initially overwhelmed with families in the ambulance port area.Officials there directed them to the lobby to await word about getting to see their children.Parents like Katie Lohmiller had just rushed from the wreckage."I totally panicked, crying. It was awful," she said.Her first thought was "Where's my son?"He was already at the hospital and was OK after a head stitch.All involved are feeling a bit banged up by the experience, but as one parent said to us "grateful that it turned out the way it did."By 5 p.m., all but two who were hurt and had been treated and released from the hospital.Authorities said they are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash.