A school bus driver has died and four children have been taken to hospital with minor injuries following a school bus crash off the westbound lanes of Highway 401 near London, Ont., Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) announced Sunday.
The crash and the ensuing investigation have closed the highway’s westbound lanes between Veteran’s Memorial Parkway and Highbury Avenue.
The single-vehicle collision happened just after 9:00 a.m., according to OPP Const. Steven Duguay, who said the bus left the roadway before tipping over and coming to a stop.
“We’ve got 42 passengers on board that school bus, four of which were transported to the hospital with minor injuries,” Duguay said.
In the aftermath, the school bus driver was pronounced dead on scene, according to Duguay. He said it’s too early in the investigation to determine what caused the driver’s death.
Police have no plans to release the name of the driver, and weren’t immediately able to confirm where the driver is from, but confirmed the driver to be male.
Within two hours of the crash happening, police set up a command centre for the incident at the East Lions Community Centre in southeast London, where teary-eyed parents could be seen reuniting with their children on Sunday afternoon.
Parents and students told CBC News the bus was in transit from the Kitchener-Waterloo area, headed to Point Pelee National Park for a school trip.
More to come
