Six adults were injured and 22 children taken to the hospital after a chain-reaction crash involving two small school buses and three other vehicles in Torrington on Tuesday afternoon.
The students are OK, but many were taken to the hospital to be evaluated, the fire chief said.
"Your mind goes to the worst possible scenario when your children are involved," said Micheal Williams, whose 7-year-old daughter and 10-year-old nephew were in the crash.
A pickup truck slammed into the back of a Jeep Grand Cherokee on Kennedy Drive near Winsted Road around 3:45 p.m., police said.
The Jeep was pushed into the back of a KinderCare bus, which in turn rear-ended an All Star Student bus from Torringford Elementary School. A Volvo in another lane was also damaged in the chain reaction, police said.
"When we hit the bus it hit my face and then the airbags hit my face again, so it was like a double impact. It was scary," said Desmond Langs, who was inside the Volvo SUV.
The woman driving the Jeep was flown to Hartford Hospital by Lifestar helicopter, according to police. She was the only person in the Jeep, and her condition is not known.
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No other adults, including the driver of the pickup, were seriously injured, police said. The names of those involved in the crash have not been released.
The road is expected to remain closed for several hours.
Superintendent Cheryl Kloczko and the Torringford principal both responded to the scene.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
The scene in #torrington pic.twitter.com/ECLxEeFGbk — Chris Beyus (@CBeyus) June 10, 2014
Life star has landed in the #Torrington lowes parking lot. pic.twitter.com/S7yyvyOKti — Chris Beyus (@CBeyus) June 10, 2014