2 kids taken to hospital after Aiken County school bus crash

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Two children were taken to a hospital after their school bus was involved in a crash this morning in the Clearwater community outside North Augusta.

The collision between the small bus and a pickup was reported around 7:30 a.m. in the 4400 block of Augusta Road at Belvedere Road.

Aiken County Public Schools spokesman Mike Rosier said a driver and two students were on the special-needs bus that bore the number 204 on the side and 627 on the bumper.

After the young students were brought off the bus in neck braces, an ambulance took them to an Augusta hospital “for precautionary examinations,” Rosier said. The bus driver didn’t appear to be injured but accompanied the kids to the hospital, Rosier said.

“We certainly want to be sure that the students and driver are OK,” Rosier told News 12. “They’re being taken care of by medical professionals.”

Rosier said the parents and schools of the students were immediately notified.

In the end, both students were released from the hospital with only one suffering from minor bruising.

Three occupants of the pickup were also taken to a hospital, according to Lance Cpl. Tyler Tidwell of the South Carolina Highway Patrol, which is investigating the incident.

None of the injuries were life-threatening, Tidwell told News 12.

Tidwell said the crash happened as the bus and pickup were traveling in opposite directions on Augusta Road. Both had a green light and the bus tried to make a left turn in front of the pickup, he said.

Roadways were blocked for a time after the crash, but as the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office helped with traffic control, vehicles were flowing slowly in one lane by 8:15 a.m. The heavily damaged pickup was being towed away around 9 a.m.

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