A crash involving a Northbrook school bus sent seven people to the hospital Thursday morning, including six children, according to the district.
All of the injuries are believed to be minor, officials said.
“Six students from the bus were taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, four by paramedics, and two by parents,” Northbrook School District 27 spokeswoman Gail Kahover said.
There did not appear to be any life-threatening injuries, said Northbrook Fire Department Division Chief Tim Cassidy. He said the driver of a sedan involved in the accident was also taken to the hospital.
“I’m grateful there weren’t more serious injuries,” Cassidy said.
A woman driving the sedan that collided with the bus at Dundee and Landwehr roads was loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher, said Jen Freid, a witness at the scene.
“Her door was opened, and she was trying to get out,” Freid said.
The sedan driver seemed to have been making a left turn, witnesses said. A Northbrook police spokesman did not know if any tickets were issued.
Freid said she was driving to work when she saw that the 8:30 a.m. accident had occurred. She pulled over and was worried that one of her children might have been among the 25 aboard the bus, she said.
That wasn’t the case, but she wound up riding on the bus that was called to take uninjured children the last few blocks to Shabonee School, 1000 Pfingsten Road.
“A couple of them were a little scared to get on the new bus to go back to school,” she said. “I rode the bus with them because the one girl did not want to go want to go. ‘Will you get on, if I ride the bus with you?’ I asked her.”
Another mother on the scene, Sue Zeiler, said the kids were upset.
“One girl that was taken to the hospital said she hit her head, and she threw up,” Zeiler said. “I think she was just really frightened,”
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Kahover said that there were no seat belts on the bus.
“There were some (children) who were a little shooken up,” Kahover said. “Counselors brought them all back, and did a great job debriefing. They talked about how they were feeling, and at the end, they were all smiling when they left the room.”
Kahover said emergency personnel did “a great job” handling the scene.
“Police and fire were all so nice talking to the kids,”Freid said. The students on the bus were third, fourth and fifth graders, she said.
She said that many of the kids were very frightened after the accident, and wanted to get off the bus. The police, however, kept them on until the new bus arrived.
“Finally, when they were able to get of the bus, a lot wanted to call mom or dad,” she said.