photo by David Finnis, with thanks

A student suffered serious injuries while eight other school kids and their teacher were taken to hospital after a school bus in which they were riding crashed head-on with a vehicle that jumped from the northbound lanes of Highway 97 into the path of the bus.

The driver of the vehicle that crossed into the path of the bus was killed in the crash. The 46 year old driver was from Oliver. RCMP have been contacted with regard to his identification.

RCMP said the tragic accident that sent 10 of the 14 on board the school bus to hospital occurred on Highway 97 north of Summerland last night .

“Preliminary findings indicate that a red Chrysler Sirius was northbound when it crossed over the undivided highway into the opposing southbound lane. The red sedan struck the white 24 passenger school bus head on, causing the school bus to be pushed into a second southbound vehicle,” said Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.

“The bus, owned and operated by School District 67 Okanagan Skaha, was transporting 14 teenage students and was driven by a female teacher at the time of the collision. BC Ambulance Services also responded with resources that included an Air Ambulance Unit, utilized to transport one student with serious injuries to Kelowna General Hospital. 8 other students and the teacher were also injured and were all transported to Penticton Regional Hospital,” he said.

“The driver of the gray sedan were shaken with only minor injuries. Some of the injured students were treated and released on Tuesday evening.”

“The male driver of the red sedan was deceased at the scene. An RCMP Collision Reconstructionalist attended in order to examine the collision scene, traffic was diverted to alternating lanes while the scene was examined,” he added.

“The weather at the time was described as a heavy downpour and appears to be one contributing factor.