PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Multiple people were hospitalized Thursday morning after a school bus collided with a pickup truck, according to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.
The crash happened around 6:35 a.m. at the intersection of West Lantana Road and Plantation Road in front of Palm Beach Plantation. About 10 students were on the bus at the time and none of them were taken to the hospital.
However, all four people in the truck suffered serious injuries and required rescue efforts to free them from the wreckage. They were all taken to a local trauma center.
19 different fire rescue units responded to the scene. Fire rescue crews arrived within four minutes of the initial 911 call and began treating the trapped victims even before they could be freed from the vehicle.
"The last person was out of the vehicle at about 7:20 a.m., so it was an extensive extrication," said Captain Tom Reyes with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. " There were other people that came out sooner than that, but this was this was a significant incident. We had our special operations teams come here, and they went right to work working on it. More importantly, we did start with patient care even before they were out of the vehicle."
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. Reyes said it's unclear what led to the collision.
The eastbound lanes of Lantana Road near Plantation Road remain closed while authorities conduct their investigation, with westbound traffic reduced to two lanes. Officials advise drivers to avoid the area for the remainder of the morning as the investigation is expected to be lengthy.
The school district is working to contact families of the students involved in the crash.
