Buses collide at school during dismissal; 17 students injured

Marlborough - School administrators and city official s commended school staff and emergency services personnel for their quick response to a minor accident involving two buses Feb. 1. The accident took place at about 2:45 p.m., in the parking lot of the 4-7 Middle School at 25 Union St. School was being dismissed for the day at the time of the accident. Seventeen of the students on the buses at the time of the accident were taken to nearby hospitals.

Superintendent Mary Carlson, who was on the scene immediately after the accident and later at the hospital, said she was so proud of how the staff at the school handled the emergency.

“Our first concern was the children … it was an amazing collaboration of many efforts. The police, fire, staff and hospital workers were all so caring and professional,” Carlson said.

With students being sent to many area hospitals, Carlson accompanied the students who were transported to Marlborough hospital.

“Marlborough hospital handled it so professionally. It was clearly a frightening experience and the kids were shaken up, but the hospital had nurses and translators in place and were clearly ready to deal with it,” Carlson said.

Mayor Nancy Stevens said that all of the children, to the best of her knowledge, were discharged from the hospitals Monday night, although some were nursing minor injuries.

“Our initial focus was on the kids,” Stevens said. “At this point the police have begun the investigations.”

Reviewing the bus pickup and drop off procedures, Carlson said this system has been in place for a number of years and that there had been no previous incidents prior to the Feb. 1 bus accident. With little information as to exactly how the accident happened, Carlson said that they would begin a debriefing on the accident and begin discussion.

“Clearly we want to know what happened,” Carlson said. “We have done this (dismissal) forever. We are going to debrief, discuss, look at everything.

“Thankfully the busses were moving slow. It is an unfortunate incident that will be fully investigated,” Carlson said. “The most important thing to us is that our children are safe and our teachers stepped up and went immediately into action. I am so proud how everyone involved handled this situation.”