A school bus rear-ended an empty tanker truck on a rural western Pennsylvania highway Wednesday, sending the drivers of both vehicles to hospitals, authorities said.
None of the four high school students on board were injured when the crash occurred shortly before 1 p.m. on Route 422 in Summit Township, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, authorities said.
State police said the bus driver was taken by helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh and the tanker driver was taken by ambulance to nearby Butler Memorial Hospital after complaining of back pain. Police didn't believe either driver had life-threatening injuries. Their names were not immediately released.
The bus said "Hermitage Schools" on it but the students were from Indiana Area School District.
Hermitage Superintendent Dan Bell said the district's contractor, Student Transportation of America, was using the vehicle to transport students from another district. Indiana Area School District Superintendent Dale Kirsch said the students were heading to an orchestra competition at Hickory High School, which is in the Hermitage district.
A teacher following behind in her vehicle took the students to the Butler hospital as a precaution, but they weren't believed to be injured, both Kirsch and county emergency services spokeswoman Amy Marree said.
