Wheels of B.C. school bus fall off as students set to start spring break

Wheels of B.C. school bus fall off as students set to start spring break
Last Updated: Friday, March 13, 2009 | 9:36 PM PT
CBC News

Police are investigating the cause of the accident. (CBC)

A school bus bringing dozens of students home for the beginning of spring break on Friday afternoon slammed to the ground after its back wheels fell off.

The bus, which was carrying 30 to 40 students — from kindergarten to grade 12 — was at the intersection of Coquihalla Street and Fraser Avenue in Hope, B.C. when its rear axle rolled out from underneath the bus, and caused the vehicle’s back side to fall to the ground.

Police are still investigating the cause of the accident but it is believed the axle came off after the bus driver braked hard.

Four students were taken to hospital with minor injuries but were later released.

The bus was approaching the Fraser Hope bridge when the bus driver braked, and caused the back wheels to fall off. (CBC)
Gwynn Stewart rushed to the scene after hearing about the incident and said despite the scare, the students were lucky.

"It was about to go on the Fraser Hope bridge ... it was certainly a great place for it to happen because if it happened on the bridge or on the highway it could have been much worse than that for sure."

A school official said the bus was built in 1991 and is one of the older, spare buses in the fleet.

“Absolutely troubling, we’re very concerned about it,” said Natalie Lowe-Zucchet, secretary-treasurer of the Fraser Cascade School District. “We have regular vehicle inspections and we’re not 100 per cent sure what happened, nor are the police, and so they’re looking into what failure took place.

Lowe-Zucchet said all buses in the district will undergo extra inspections before they are put back onto the roads after spring break.


Link