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8 Students, Motorist Taken To Hospital After School Bus Wreck

Robert Burke / Tampa Tribune

A minivan hit a school bus in Valrico this morning. Eight children were taken to the hospital.

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By Yvette C. Hammett of The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 13, 2007

Updated: 12/13/2007 04:01 pm

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Crash investigators spent much of this morning investigating a collision between a minivan and a school bus at Valrico and Durant roads in Valrico.

The pregnant minivan driver and eight students from the bus were rushed to local hospitals. By the afternoon, the woman was listed in fair condition at Tampa General Hospital and the students had all been treated and released from Brandon Regional Hospital, officials said.

The wreck happened about 8:30 a.m. The bus was northbound on Valrico Road en route to Mulrennan Middle School. It stopped at Durant and continued through the intersection, said Georgette Hayes, who saw the accident.

A silver Toyota Sienna van heading east on Durant Road ran a stop sign and struck the bus on the left side, Hayes said.

Eight children age 11 to 14 were take to Brandon Regional Hospital.

"Any time children are involved, we take extra precautions and extra care," Hillsborough Fire Rescue Capt. Bruce Delk said. "We treat them like our children."

The school bus driver, identified as Tammy Lynn Roberts, 42, complained of shoulder pain but declined to be taken to the hospital.

Kelly Spivey was returning from a morning run when her son, who was at his bus stop at Oak Hill Drive one block north of Durant, told her about the crash.

Spivey said that as she ran to help, she could hear the driver of the van screaming.

Several men were trying to get a pregnant woman, identified as Binu Jacob of Valrico, out of the van. "I told her to quit moving her head and to stay calm," Spivey said.

The 33-year-old woman was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital, Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

The crash scene was chaotic at first, Delk said. Several parents arrived and wanted to board the bus immediately.

Twenty firefighters and paramedics were there and persuaded the parents to wait until paramedics could identify the injured children, Delk said.

There were 31 students on the bus. Another bus arrived to pick up the uninjured children and took them to school.

Reporter Mike Wells contributed to this report. Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at yhammett@tampatrib.com or (813) 657-4532.

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