Kids recount frantic moments after Sanbornton bus crash

Two dozen elementary school students in Sanbornton are safe at home with their parents after their school bus crashed on Friday afternoon amidst snowy conditions. Nine-year-old Olive, and her 6-year-old sister Hazel, were on the bus when a pick -up truck lost control on a slick hill, and pushed the bus off the road, into an embankment. “It was so scary. I cried,” Olive said. Although none of the children on board, or the driver of the pick-up truck were injured, many of the kids were visibly shaken by this event, according to fire officials. Jessica Bond, Olive and Hazel’s mother, said she was working at the time of the crash, and the girls’ father was waiting for them at the bus stop. When she got the call about the crash from a teacher, she rushed to find the girls, who were “sobbing” when they saw their mother. “As a parent, I was glad they were okay, but knowing, you know, they’ re scared and you cant be there to comfort them was hard,” Bond said. When the bus crashed, many children were getting ready to get off, since there is a bus stop just down the street. Some students, including the three children we spoke with, bumped their heads and knees. All the girls’ belongings, including Olive’s winter coat and homework, are still on the bus. However, the girls are still very apprehensive about getting back on the bus on Monday. “They are saying they won’t ride the bus on Monday,” Bond said. Olive’s classmate, 10-year-old Jaiden Goodwin, tried to comfort other children, following the crash. He and his grandmother, Lisa Saber, credit Brittney, the bus driver, for keeping all the kids calm and safe. “We’re grateful,” Saber said. “She had a big responsibility as a bus driver — that’s not something that I would take on. She’s obviously had some great training and we are grateful that she was able to make the kids feel safe and get them out safely and nobody was harmed. ”