7 students hurt in school bus accident in Plymouth

Seven students were hurt when a pickup truck pulling a trailer crashed into a school bus carrying Wayzata High School students home from school Tuesday afternoon, police say.

The students, who suffered minor injuries like bumps and bruises, were transported to the hospital, spokeswoman Tammy Ward told the Sun Sailor. The bus driver and truck driver were not hurt, Plymouth police said in a news release.

Wayzata Public Schools officials told the newspaper that there were 19 students on the bus at the time of the accident.

Investigators say the bus was westbound on 19th Avenue and crossing County Road 101 when the one-ton pickup struck the bus.

Few details about what led to the crash were released. The incident is under investigation.

School bus accidents that result in injuries are relatively rare for the number of miles traveled each year by school buses in Minnesota. In 2012, there were 553 crashes in the state involving school buses, including 113 incidents that involved injuries, and a total of seven fatalities, according to state statistics.

A recent bus crash happened in April, when seven students were injured when a school bus and semi-truck crashed in western Minnesota.

Last fall, dozens of elementary school children where injured when the bus they were riding in crashed with an SUV in Corcoran.

In 2012, two students were injured when their school bus crashed into a car that pulled out in front of the bus in Plymouth.

In 2008, four students were killed in a southwestern Minnesota school bus crash.