PITTSBURGH — A school bus crashed into a tree in Pittsburgh’s Highland Park neighborhood on Thursday morning.
Police, firefighters and medics were called to the 5500 block of Bryant Street around 7:47 a.m.
The school bus appears to have driven up onto the sidewalk before crashing into the tree.
According to Pittsburgh Public Safety, everyone had exited the bus by the time first responders arrived.
The bus driver was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
Ten children were on the bus at the time. Medics evaluated them for bumps and bruises, public safety officials say.
A Pittsburgh Public Schools spokesperson says two students were taken to the hospital by ambulance. Six others were taken to the hospital by their parents for evaluation. The other two were picked up on scene and driven to school by their parents.
The PPS spokesperson says the driver reported that he “blacked out.”
Crews have begun working to tow the bus away.
Pittsburgh Police are investigating what caused the crash.
Channel 11 crews saw two other cars that were damaged in the crash.
We spoke with a girl who was on the bus when it happened. She said it was terrifying.
“When I got on the bus, he didn’t seem normal,” she said.
Seventh-grader Zyazia Wofford says something felt off with her bus driver. Things only got worse when they turned down Bryant Street.
“When we got here, we, everybody heard like a big boom, so like we thought he hit a pothole.”
It turned into chaos inside the bus.
“People like flew out their seats and, like, one person hit their head off the top of the roof.”
When neighbor Tom Tercek heard the crash, he had no idea that crash had hit his car.
“We heard three loud successive bombs effectively going off,” he said.
Neighbor Vinne Branch also heard the crash.
“I came outside and saw the kids. They were on the sidewalk. And instantly, I just said, ‘Kids, do you wanna come up on my porch?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ I got them on the porch, got them some water, got them snacks, made sure they were OK.”
Pittsburgh medics said it is “possible” that the driver was having a medical emergency.
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