JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Just a week shy of a bus crash that injured four kindergarten students along Zoo Parkway, Duval County Public Schools said another school bus that was leaving the Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens on Wednesday was involved in a “minor” crash.
According to the school district, first and second-grade students from John E. Ford Elementary were returning to school when the bus got into the crash.
No details were initially provided about the cause of the crash, but at the scene, News4JAX saw the bus stopped at the railroad tracks near Parker Avenue and Main Street.
A tow truck appeared to have made contact with the back of the bus, and JSO was investigating.
In its first message about the crash, DCPS said no injuries had been reported, but in an update from the district as of 3 p.m. Wednesday, at least eight students were “transported for medical assessment as a precaution.”
“We are working to directly contact the families of those students and will continue outreach until all have been reached. A backup bus has arrived on site. District and school staff remain with the students, providing supervision and care as they prepare to be transported safely back to school. We will send another update shortly with information regarding student pick-up. Thank you for your patience as we work to ensure the safety of all students,” the updated statement from the district said.
According to the Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department, one adult and eight students were transported with non-life-threatening injuries.
“Both JSO and JFRD are on site assessing the situation. School and district staff are with the students, providing care and supervision as we await a backup bus to transport them back to campus. We will send an additional update once students have safely returned to school. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this situation,” the district said in an earlier statement.
A grandmother of one of the children on the bus told News4JAX her grandson was shaken up afterward.
“He hit his head as well. Some of his things flew out the seat and flew down, but I didn’t see any visible marks or anything on him. His head hurts a little, but we’re going to take him to the emergency room right now,” she said.
The grandmother said she was also shaken up after she was reunited with her grandson, stating that it was scary to get the text message about the crash.
“I’m OK now that I saw him and was able to put my hands on him and just hold him, but just the shaking of him when he saw me and immediately just went into tears,” she told News4JAX.
Last Thursday, about 30 kindergarteners from San Pablo Elementary School were on board a Duval County bus headed to the Jacksonville Zoo when a semi truck driver crashed into the back of the bus, later telling JSO his “brakes were not working.”
The grandmother shared a message to drivers after the repeated accidents on Zoo Parkway.
“They need to drive with caution,” she said. “It’s a lot of traffic on this road. This is a main road that a lot of semi trucks and a lot of cars come through here, and definitely when these buses are stopping at this railroad crossing, the drivers and everybody need to be very careful.”