Update:

Franklin County Schools released a statement on Wednesday, Sept. 2, with the following information:

• There were 19 students on baord the bus, not 22 as previously reported
• Thirteen students and the bus driver were transported to area hospitals for further evaluation. They have all been discharged. Six students were released to their parents at the scene.
• The driver has been charged with careless and reckless driving and failure to maintain lane control. The driver has been suspended with pay pending the completion of the district's investigation.

We have updated our story to reflect updated information.

Tuesday, Sept. 1

A Franklin County school bus carrying 19 Terrell Lane Middle School students was involved in a single-vehicle crash Tuesday morning, sending 13 children to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries and raising questions about whether problems with the bus had been reported prior to the crash. The accident occurred on Alert Rd. in Louisburg, NC. 

According to Franklin County’s Emergency Management Director Nicholas Thorpe, the 911 call came in around 8:30 a.m. Franklin County EMS, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, the Epsom Fire Department, the Goldsand Fire Department, the Louisburg Fire Department, and the Louisburg Police Department responded, including assistance from Warren County. 

“We pretty much used about every ambulance in the county on this incident,” Thorpe said.

Twelve students were transported to local hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to moderate. Thorpe said some students complained of head and ankle injuries, while others were transported as a precaution. Two students with moderate injuries were taken to WakeMed for additional treatment.

A Parent Raises Questions About the Bus

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Parent Kiara Robinson, whose son was on the bus, told County Beacon that her son called her immediately afterwards.

“He was crying. All the kids on the bus were crying,” Robinson said. “ It was very, very loud. I could barely understand what he was saying.”

Robinson said the bus driver told her she had experienced trouble with the bus before and had reported those concerns to the district. Robinson said she personally witnessed the same bus break down near her home the first few days of school.

The Investigation is Ongoing

When County Beacon spoke with a state trooper on scene, they confirmed that investigators plan to obtain the bus’s maintenance records and said a Level 1 inspection involving the brakes would be conducted.

“We’ll get copies of all their maintenance logs,” the trooper said. 

For now, County Beacon is working to answer two key questions: 

1. What caused Tuesday morning’s crash?
2. Were there warning signs involving this bus before the crash?

County Beacon will update this story with the bus’s maintenance history, inspection records and any previous complaints as more information becomes available. 

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