FAIRLESS HILLS, Pa., Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Federal safety investigators are in Pennsylvania to help determine why a school bus driver lost control of the vehicle and plowed into a group of students.
At least 17 high school students at Pennsbury High School were hurt, one seriously. Ashley Zauflik remained in critical condition late Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The three investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to be in the district for three days.
The bus jumped a curb at the high school Friday afternoon and traveled for more than a quarter-mile before it hit an abutment. The driver had just boarded one group of students and started moving to pick up more at another building.
The bus hit students who were gathered outside the school.
"I saw a little girl get trampled beneath the bus," said Ayanna Witherspoon, 18, a senior who was on another bus. "I just saw her body rolling underneath the bus."
Students who were on the bus said the brakes appeared to malfunction. They said the driver warned them to brace themselves and tried using both the foot brake and the emergency brake to bring the bus to a stop.
School officials said the driver is a 7-year district employee and there was no indication he had been drinking or using drugs. Pennsbury plans to take buses like the one that crashed out of service until the investigation is completed.
