LONDONDERRY, N.H. (WHDH) - Tuesday’s high winds blew power lines onto a New Hampshire school bus that was taking a dozen students to class on Tuesday morning, but the driver kept her cool and no one was hurt, officials said.
Emergency crews responding to a report of downed wires on King John Drive in Londonderry found a falling tree had knocked live wires on top of a bus with a dozen students on board, according to Londonderry police. Eight-year-old Ethan Miller had just gotten on when the wires fell.
“We heard like the tree fall and then we heard the wire come down and then I looked out the window and I was like, ‘oh, no we’re trapped,’” Miller said.
Justin Lavoie and another neighbor came running to help but quickly realized there was little they could do.
“The driver was in there. My neighbor was running over at the same time and there was a wire right above her head at the window. I pointed that out to her and said, ‘don’t touch that wire,’“ Lavoie said. “Live wires and little kids, not a good, not a good thing to see.”
Bus driver Deborah Sullivan and the students, ranging from first to fifth graders, were trapped for 45 minutes, but Sullivan led the students in games to keep their minds off the danger.
“You need to keep your head level and keep the kids calm and we had all the first responders to take care of us, it was all good,” Sullivan said. “We’re always ready for something we don’t expect ..and you need to sit down, right away, please. Right away, thank you.”
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