Student dies, 3 more hurt in Dallas-area school bus crash

MESQUITE, Texas – A 12-year-old girl was killed and three other students were injured when their school bus crashed and burst into flames in suburban Dallas Wednesday afternoon, according to school officials.

The Mesquite Independent School District says a bus carrying 42 students from Terry Middle School crashed Wednesday. A police report says the 12-year-old girl died after being trapped in the overturned bus.

TV station KXAS reports the crash happened after the rear wheels of the bus slid off the pavement and went onto a grassy slope. The driver over corrected and pulled the vehicle into on-coming traffic. The driver then turned the opposite direction to avoid the traffic, according to the report.

Mesquite police say the bus came into contact with a power line, igniting the fire. The station reports the 12-year-old’s younger sister was on the bus, but said she could not reach her sister.

Aerial video shows the bus lying on its side in a ditch in Mesquite, with its roof pressed up against a power pole, the engine and much of the bus blackened by fire.

The crash is under investigation. No other vehicles were involved.

Police say one child died at the scene. Three other students, the driver and three officers were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.