Two students and a Bulloch County school bus driver were taken to a hospital Thursday after the bus collided with a tractor-trailer rig carrying a roll-off container.
The crash took place around 3:45 p.m. on Highway 25 near Dannie Cartee Road, said Hayley Greene, public relations and marketing manager for Bulloch County Schools.
The bus, driven by Dawrence Hutley, was stopped facing north, having unloaded about 10 students just seconds before the impact, said Paul Webb, Bulloch County Schools transportation director.
Georgia State Patrol Post 45 Sgt. David Bryant said the truck, also traveling north and owned by Thompson Building and Wrecking of Augusta, swerved and struck the bus with the roll-off container with a “glancing blow,” causing extensive damage to the bus and rendering the truck inoperable.
The driver of the truck was identified as Antonio Sinquefield, 37, of Hephzibah. Webb said he was not transported for injury.
Two girls — a Portal Elementary School student and a Portal Middle School student — were taken by Bulloch County EMS, along with Hutley, to East Georgia Regional Medical Center, where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Webb said.
Three other students who remained on the bus during the crash were treated at the scene.
Bryant said there was adequate visibility for approaching vehicles to be able to see the stopped bus, and Webb said all the lights and safety devices on the bus were working.
There was no indication that any intoxicants were involved, and charges are possible, pending further investigation, Bryant said.
Bulloch County EMS, Bulloch County sheriff’s deputies, Statesboro and Bulloch County firefighters and Portal police were on the scene when GSP troopers arrived, he said.