15 hurt in school bus crash, state police say
More than a dozen people were injured when a school bus crashed Monday on the Garden State Parkway in Bergen County
By WCBS/WLNY Team, Naveen Dhaliwal
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New Jersey (WCBS/WLNY) — More than a dozen people were injured when a school bus crashed Monday on the Garden State Parkway in Bergen County, New Jersey.
The crash happened at around 7:30 p.m. on the northbound side of the parkway just north of Exit 171 in Montvale, right before the James Gandolfini Service Area.
CBS News New York’s Christine Sloan has learned the people on the bus were from a rabbinical school in Lakewood and were heading to New York to attend a post-wedding celebration. The bus was seen on its side facing the wrong way on the highway, and skid marks were visible on a nearby embankment. There was no immediate word on what caused it to topple over.
New Jersey State Police said 15 people, including the 44-year-old driver and 14 passengers, were treated for injuries. One of the passengers suffered serious injuries, while the others were described as minor.
“A 14-year-old boy is fighting for his life this morning after being pinned under the overturned bus on the Parkway,” Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali said in a social media post Tuesday morning.
Emergency crews from the Woodcliff Lake Fire Department and volunteers from the Montvale Fire Department were able to lift the bus and rescue the 14-year-old and get a pulse. He was then transported to The Valley Hospital in Paramus, according to Ghassali.
“I saw a head injury, like a lot of blood and stuff. It just did not look good. I’m praying for all the families and everybody involved,” witness Liam Deacy said.
“Outside our window you could see somebody was being loaded onto an ambulance. It broke my heart,” witness Laura Santacruz added.
Numerous students from the bus were seen on top of a hill behind the nearby Woodland Square Apartment Complex being attended to by ambulances out of Rockland County.
Gov. Phil Murphy was briefed on the situation, and the crash drew a large response from first responders.
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