FALL RIVER, MASS. (WHDH) - A bus monitor this week described harrowing moments aboard a school bus in Fall River that lost control and hit the front porch of a home on Monday morning.
Surveillance video showed the bus taking out a utility pole before hitting the porch near the intersection of Charles Street and King Street around 7 a.m.
Speaking with 7NEWS, Aindrea Cummings said the bus had just picked up a student at the bottom of the street when the bus jumped the curb and crashed.
“I just grabbed the top of the seat, I ducked down, braced for impact and, next thing I know, I’m actually on the floor in the aisle,” Cummings said.
Cummings was one of six people on the bus when it crashed. She said she doesn’t know what caused the driver to lose control.
“I just was like ‘Is everyone OK? Is everyone OK?” she said of the moments after the crash.
She said some students told her they were OK. One called for help.
The student, a middle school student, had to go to the hospital to get checked out for back pain. No one else on the bus or in the house was hurt.
Cummings said she hustled to get the children off the bus through the vehicle’s emergency exit.
“I didn’t understand, actually, the severity of what happened until we got off the bus and we got across the street and I saw we were in somebody’s front yard,” she said.
Cummings returned to work on Tuesday, where she said she found children unfazed by what happened.
Cummings said she’s glad the crash didn’t end with a worse outcome. She also said the crash highlighted the importance of monitors like her on buses.
“There’s a reason why there are monitors,” Cummings said. “We’re there for your safety — to make sure you’re sitting correctly in the seat at all times, to get you to school safe.” Cummings said.
The operator of the school bus in this incident was cited for negligent operation of a motor vehicle and marked lane violation, according to police. The driver’s name was not immediately released.
Temporary frames were seen in place helping support the structure hit in this crash.
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