Car Rams School Bus, Injuring 50 Children

A speeding motorist went through a stop sign Thursday and slammed into the side of a crowded school bus, killing himself and injuring at least 50 elementary schoolchildren.

In Louisiana, a bus on a field trip overturned on a rain-slick highway in Shreveport, sending 33 high school students to hospitals, including two with serious injuries.

Youngsters in the Detroit crash were crawling out of the bus as neighbors and motorists rushed to their rescue.

“Children were wandering around aimlessly, bleeding and crying. They wanted their parents. I felt so bad for them,” said Beverly Ferrell, who drove up minutes after the crash.

The impact of the collision near Hutchinson Elementary School turned the bus upside down. It came to rest against a utility pole, nearly splitting it in two. The driver of the car, 31-year-old Cordell Nelson, of Detroit, had to be pried out; he was declared dead at a hospital.

Police said it appeared that Nelson failed to stop at a stop sign.

The bus driver, Joseph Chandler, 52, another adult and the 57 children aboard were not seriously injured.

Ferrell said she comforted a 6-year-old boy who had a huge knot on his head.

She stopped the boy’s older sister - who also was on the bus - from walking him home.

“I had to make them sit down and wait for treatment. They were so shaken up,” Ferrell said.

A neighbor let about 15 children into his house while others brought blankets out to keep them warm.

The Louisiana bus was carrying 42 students, a driver and a chaperone from Byrd High School to the Port of Shreveport when the driver lost control in the rain. The bus spun three or four times on its side.