Fifteen Hurt In School Bus Accident

Fifteen people, including 12 schoolchildren, suffered minor injuries in a school bus accident Monday afternoon near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Five children were taken to Highline Community Hospital in Burien, where they were treated and released. Seven other students were treated and released from Auburn Regional Medical Center.

“I knew nobody on the bus was really hurt because everybody hopped up and looked out the window and was yelling at us and just, you know, ‘are you guys all right,’ ” said Andy Miller, who was involved in the accident.

An 18-year-old woman and a boy and girl, both 16, suffered minor injuries in two cars, Battalion Chief John Madson of the SeaTac Fire Department said.

The bus driver was not hurt.

The bus carrying children from Chinook Middle School was on its homeward route about 2:30 p.m. when the collision occurred, said Joanne Elledge of King County police.

The school bus was traveling eastbound on South 188th Street when it turned right, swung wide and went over the lane line about a foot, said Elledge.

A driver behind the bus tried to stop to avoid it, but clipped the bus, then lost control and also hit a car in another lane. The driver, a 21-year-old man, said he was trying to avoid the bus that had moved into his lane.

Police were investigating the cause of the crash Monday night.