BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) —Several children are recovering Wednesday night after a school bus crash left six kids injured and the driver of the other vehicle dead.
“We were just in the back of the bus talking, and it just happened. It was less than a couple of seconds,” said Baton Rouge High Magnet High School (BRHMS) student Tyelor Sykes.
Sykes walked away with a few scrapes and bruises and said he is thankful to be alive.
“I have a small cut above my eyebrow, a couple of bruises across my face, and a cut going down around my chest,” he said.
He said he and nine others (eight of the nine were students) were on their way to BRHMS when another vehicle collided with his bus, off Florida Boulevard and Wooddale Boulevard.
“We just felt the impact and the bus instantly started moving and all you could hear was the screaming. And when it stopped, it was just screaming, glass, and chaos,” he said.
According to the coroner, the driver of the Toyota Camry, 50-year-old Cindy Anderson, died at the scene.
Baton Rouge police said she ran a stop sign and crashed into the side of the bus. About 6 students walked away with minor injuries.
“I didn’t think that that would be something that I could survive. Because when you see it, you see the bus flipped over like that, you would think that you wouldn’t survive that,” said Sykes.
He said many of the kids are still a little shaken after the accident. They waited for their parents and were checked out in the ER.
“There are other children who are just in shock. I know I was in shock…. and that’s when like a lot of kids just broke down when they saw their parents,” he said. “I know a lot of us, I know I am for sure, are grateful that we made it out without losing our lives.”
Sykes said he’s going to rest up and head back to school tomorrow, but he doesn’t think he’ll be riding the bus anytime soon.
“Um, I probably won’t ride the bus for a while. I was thinking about that as I was coming home. I was thinking that I’m going to have to get on a bus tomorrow to go to school, and I probably won’t be able to,” he said.
East Baton Rouge Parish Schools said care specialists will continue to provide support on-site at BRHMS for the rest of the week.
EBRPPS said in a statement:
“EBRPSS expresses our deepest sympathy to all those impacted by the accident and will remain steadfast in our support for the community.”