A school bus in Liberty, Mo., collided last week with two cars as it approached an intersection, killing the cars’ drivers and injuring dozens of students.
The bus, No. 80, was carrying 53 students on the morning of May 9 to Ridgeview Elementary School in the 8,100-student Liberty school district, 15 miles north of Kansas City.
In a statement, the district said the bus had passed a Missouri Highway Patrol inspection on April 14 and a daily pretrip inspection on the day of the accident. The driver also was reported to have a clean record.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said there was no videotape available from the day of the accident because the bus’ videocassette recorder hadn’t worked since April 26.
As of late last week, two students remained hospitalized at Children’s Mercy Hospital and Clinics in Kansas City, one in critical condition. The family of the other injured student requested that no information on the child’s condition be released.
Grief counselors were available across the district last week. Both of the men killed in the accident were the parents of school-age children, including two who are students at a Liberty middle school, the district said.