UPDATE: Teacher killed in crash identified

UPDATE: A timeline for the field trip tragedy

UPDATE: Hear the harrowing radio calls

UPDATE: The one big unanswered question

A fifth grader and a teacher from a middle school in Paramus were killed Thursday morning in a horrific crash between a school bus and dump truck on Route 80.

The school bus was carrying 38 students and seven adults, including the driver, from East Brook Middle School for a field trip to Waterloo Village.

Forty-three of them were injured and taken to local hospitals, including 21 to Morristown Medical Center, which is a Level 1 trauma center. Several remain critical and are undergoing surgery, Gov. Phil Murphy said during an afternoon press conference.

"This is a shaken community," the governor said. "Everyone is trying to make sense of this."

Aerial footage showed the seating area of the bus, which was carrying students from East Brook Middle School in Paramus to Waterloo Village, torn from its chassis, and on its side in the center median.

It appears as though the bus struck the end of a guard rail, just past an opening that allows emergency vehicles to move between sides of the roadway.

"We had every injury type you can imagine for a scenario like this," said Jeff Paul, Morris County Director of Emergency Management. "The children were all over. Some were (strapped in with seatbelts), some were out. ... We had patients laying all over the median and obviously on the interstate."

The crash, which happened at 10:21 a.m., occurred just west of exit 25 in Mount Olive, and closed the interstate. Exit 25 is the exit for Waterloo Village, and it is unclear whether the driver had missed the exit.

Paramus officials said the bus, owned by the board of education, was one of three en route to Waterloo Village, and that the two other buses had returned to the school, which dismissed sixth, seventh and eighth graders in the wake of the crash.

"This is a sad, sad day," Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera said. "Keep us in your prayers. Pray for Paramus."

LaBarbiera said the community was coming together to support those impacted by the crash.

"As a father of three sons, I cannot fathom the level of pain and despair that the family of the student whose life was lost is feeling, and the loved ones of the teacher who also died are in the same horrific situation," LaBarbiera said.

"I ask all members of our Paramus community to keep the deceased and wounded and their families in their prayers as we work collectively to recover from this tragedy," the mayor said.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene, with children battered, bruised and scared.

Frank Iossa said he arrived on the scene minutes after the crash happened, while he was driving east down I-80. He said he arrived before police, and drivers were running out of their cars to help crying and screaming children out of the overturned bus.

"There were people pulling kids out of the rooftops, windows and doors. A few of them used my phone to call their parents," Iossa said. "One kid was asking me, 'Where's my friend?'. It was pretty heart-wrenching."

A nurse from South Carolina and New York City firefighter were among the many people who stopped to help the children, Iossa noted.

"Some of the kids were pretty beat up, some were cut and bruised. I saw a few taken away on gurneys," he said. "Some could walk, some couldn't. One girl was complaining about her leg hurting."

Paramus Council President Holly Tedesco, who is also the borough's Police Commissioner, said that crisis counselors were at the middle school for students and parents. School was set to be open Friday, but officials said all trips have been canceled.

"This is a devastation for our community," she said. "It's sad [at the school] right now. We're trying to find out information and trying to get as much information to the public."

Police did not immediately release the names of anyone involved in the wreck or provide details on the conditions of the injured. Officials also did not confirm if the children were wearing seat belts, which they said were installed on the bus.

Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco, a former borough mayor and fire chief, praised first responders for their work to save lives at the scene.

"Sixty-five years I lived in this town and it's difficult to stand here today and talk about our education community suffering so deeply," he said.

Staff writers Alexis Johnson, Allison Pries and Jeff Goldman contributed to this story.

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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