Deaf students hurt in crash on I-70
Authorities say 15 teens and children went to University Hospital in Columbia after a charter bus coming from the Missouri School for the Deaf in Fulton overturned in Montgomery County.
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education spokeswoman Sarah Potter believes all the students have minor injuries.
Police say the crash happened around 1:30 p.m. Friday near Danville.
The bus went through a stop sign, over Highway J onto the ramp towards I-70, where it traveled off the road, eventually losing control and flipping.The driver is 72 year-old Wint Smith from Sedalia.
Two chaperones and the driver were treated. Hospital spokeswoman Mary Jenkins says the adults also suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Interpreters from the school and the hospital are helping translate for the children, who range in age from 10 to 18. Many of them live at the school, which has roughly 70 to 75 students.
Potter says they were heading home after the end of their summer term. The bus was supposed to stop at several locations in the eastern part of the state, including St. Charles, St. Louis, Arnold, Sikeston and Cape Girardeau.
The Missouri Highway Patrol continues to investigate the initial cause, but troopers are considering speed and lack of attention on the part of the driver.
