Deadly crash involving school bus in Cumberland Co.
FAIRFIELD TWP., N.J. -- Police are investigating a crash involving a school bus that left one person dead and another critical in Cumberland County, New Jersey.
The crash happened around 7:45 a.m. Thursday on the 800 block of Commerce Street (State Highway 49) in Fairfield Township.
Police say 43-year-old Larry Waller of Bridgeton, NJ was traveling westbound in a Toyota Rav 4 when he crossed into the eastbound lane, striking the school bus. The students on board were heading to Pineland Learning Center in Vineland.
The bus ran off the roadway and overturned.
Waller was pronounced dead at the scene.
"You just heard screaming, yelling. Everyone was frantic," said Brittany Divito, who heard the crash from her nearby home.
"It was like metal, metal hitting metal. And then all you heard was screeching, dragging and I'm going to assume that's when the bus was turned over because it was loud and painful," she added. "It was painful to hear."
Divito went running and arrived in time to see the students, ranging in age from 11 to 17, crawling out the back of the bus.
"They were highly upset, they were shaken, but there was so much help here," said Nancy Iwantschenko.
Four children in the bus, ages 11 to 17, were taken to Inspira Medical Center with minor injuries.
An 82-year-old bus aide is hospitalized at Cooper University Hospital in critical, but stable condition.
