Teacher, Students Remain Hospitalized Day After Field Trip Bus Crash on I-95
By Dan Stamm and Wire Reports ••
Several Philadelphia students and teachers continued to recover in the hospital Tuesday after their charter bus crashed on Interstate 95 in Maryland Monday. NBC10’s Pamela Osborne reports from the C.W. Henry School where the students attend.
A teacher and four students from a Philadelphia school remained hospitalized Tuesday morning after their charter tour bus overturned a day earlier while headed to a field trip in Washington, D.C.
Philadelphia School District Spokesman Lee Whack says the hospitalized teacher is Brittany Jacobs, a special education teacher at Charles W. Henry School.
The students have not been identified, but they were among 30 people on the bus from the school in Philadelphia's Mt. Airy neighborhood. All were hurt in the Monday morning wreck along Interstate 95 in Havre de Grace, Maryland.
The bus carrying 26 children, three chaperones and the driver, Clarence Beamer, 59, of Philadelphia, overturned at least once on the highway, Maryland State Police said.
"We felt the bus swerve and then, I guess, the bus just went up and started turning around," eighth grader Saniyah Copeland said. She received 12 stitches in her forehead.
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A preliminary investigation revealed the driver of the blue sedan -- who wasn't injured -- cut off the bus causing the bus to go up the embankment and strike a tree before landing on its side, police said.
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A bus filled with eighth graders traveling from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. for a field trip overturned Monday morning after a car traveling southbound on Interstate 95 clipped it while attempting to pass, officials said.
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The Werner Coach tour bus carried 26 children from the C.W. Henry 8th grade class, two teachers, a chaperone and the driver. A GoFundMe Page set up "to help offset costs for all those affected by this recent disaster" had nearly reached its $15,000 goal by Thursday afternoon.
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The bus left Philadelphia, with students from C.W. Henry School along Carpenter Lane in the Mt. Airy neighborhood, Monday morning.
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The bus flipped in the southbound lanes near Exit 89 in Havre de Grace at 9:25 a.m., Maryland State Police said.
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After being clipped, the bus veered to the right side of the highway and hit an embankment and a tree before overturning on its left side. Damage to the hill and guardrail on the right side of the highway remained.
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Philadelphia Police union president John McNesby said officers headed to a Washington, D.C. memorial were directly behind the bus. They stopped and offered assistance at the scene just moments later.
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State police first tweeted about the crash at 9:54 a.m., saying a medical helicopter was assisting.
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University of Maryland Medical System spokesman Michael Schwartzberg said Brittany Jacobs, a special education teacher, remained in critical condition Tuesday afternoon. She was airlifted to the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.
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University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air took in nine patients.
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Another 17 people were treated at University of Maryland Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace, hosptial officials said.
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Philadelphia School District Superintendent William Hite said some of the children were already released as of early afternoon and that a bus would take the children back to Philly.
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By midday Monday, crews had the bus upright.
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Police interviewed the driver of the car, and the crash remained under investigation Monday afternoon.
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The Philadelphia Police officers, recruits and their travelling party returned back to Philly around 1:45 p.m. They were credited with helping emergency responders on the scene.
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Maryland State Police took hours investigating and cleaning up the wreck. The roadway finally reopened after 2 p.m.
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As of 5:40 p.m., most of the injured were released from hospitals and reunited with family.
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"Werner Coach is cooperating fully with police, officials from the Maryland State Police and others to assist the passengers involved in the accident in Maryland," the Phoenixville, Pennsylvania-based company said in a statement. "Werner Coach wishes to express its sorrow and sympathy to those impacted by this accident. Werner places the safe transportation of all their passengers at the highest level. With more than 88 years in operation, they strive to make a trip on one of our coaches a great experience."
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Some students returned to the school Monday night.
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By midday Tuesday, four children and Jacobs remained hospitalized, the school district said. One child with serious injuries.
The critically injured teacher was flown to the University of Maryland Medical Center's trauma center in Baltimore. University of Maryland Medical System spokesman Michael Schwartzberg says Jacobs is in critical condition.
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A spokeswoman for the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, said the seriously hurt student had been taken there. Neither facility would give information on the patients' injuries or conditions.
Seventeen patients went to a University of Maryland hospital in Harford County. Nine others went to another of the university's hospitals in Havre de Grace. Two children were taken from a Maryland hospital to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and by late Monday, neither remained at the facility.
Dozens of students from a Philadelphia school were injured during a tour bus crash on I-95. NBC10’s Brandon Hudson has the details and speaks to the grandmother of one of the students.
"She's traumatized because one of her friends is still at the hospital," Linda Gordy, whose granddaughter was on the bus, said.
As of midday Tuesday four children and the critically-injured teachers remained hospitalized, the school district said.
Emergency responders credited Philadelphia police officers and recruits headed to a police event in Washington, D.C. with rendering immediate aide. They happened to be one of three buses near the crash.
"They were crying," retired Philadelphia Police Officer Charles Esposito said. "They were all asking about the other children."
After local students and teachers were among the passengers on a bus that crashed in Maryland on Monday, members of the Charles W. Henry School in Philadelphia are reacting.
Video showed Philadelphia police recruits rendering aid and searching the woods near the crash scene to ensure everyone was accounted for, Joe Sisca, a passenger in another bus, said.
After a bus carrying Philadelphia students crashed in Maryland, Philadelphia officials jumped into action. The police recruits, who were traveling behind the bus, searched the area for kids and tended to the injured passengers.
Dr. Steven Fountain, an emergency physician at Harford Memorial Hospital, said many of the patients suffered muscle strains and contusions.
Police in Maryland say a car that tried to pass the bus clipped it, causing it to overturn.
New chopper video shows a tour bus on its side on Interstate 95 South in Havre de Grace, Maryland just over the Delaware border. Students from Philadelphia’s CW Henry School were on board.
Troopers said the driver of the passenger vehicle, 20-year-old Menachem Backman of College Park, Maryland, refused medical treatment at the scene. Crash investigators have consulted with the Harford County state's attorney's office, who said charges would be withheld for now. Once the investigation is finished, troopers said in a statement, the state's attorney will review it and determine if charges will be filed.
Mayor Jim Kenney said, "As a parent myself, your mind runs wild as to what happened, especially if you can't see your child."
"This was a devastating event for all involved. Student safety, on and off school grounds, is of paramount importance, and the city will continue to do whatever we can to support the school district and assist families impacted by this tragedy," Kenney said.
The school district said it would offer. counseling at the school when classes resume Wednesday. (School is closed Tuesday for the Pennsylvania primary election.
Vai Sikahema and Tracy Davidson talk with the President of the FOP, John McNesby, who has details about the Philadelphia Police who were directly behind a bus crash in Maryland. The bus was transporting children from the Philadelphia area on a class field trip.
The bus was operated by Phoenixville, Pennsylvania-based charter company Werner Coach. The company issued a statement Monday evening, saying, "Werner Coach is cooperating fully with police, officials from the Maryland State Police and others to assist the passengers involved in the accident in Maryland.
