One child is dead and at least 45 others are injured after a bus carrying a youth football team crashed in Arkansas early Monday morning.
Fox News reports, “The charter bus was traveling on Interstate 30 near Benton, Ark., about 2:40 a.m. Monday when it careened off the road and overturned, Arkansas state police said in a statement. The bus was carrying the Orange Mound Youth Association's football team, which had attended an All-Star game in Dallas, Texas during the weekend. The team was on its way back to Memphis at the time of the incident.”
It was initially believed that 40 were injured but Arkansas State Police recently provided an update raising the total to "at least 45 ... most of them children."
The children aboard the bus were reportedly between 8 and 12 years old and had chaperones traveling with them.
Those injured were taken to hospitals in Benton and Little Rock about 25 miles northeast from where the bus overturned, according to Arkansas state police spokesman Bill Sadler. Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock tweeted early Monday morning that it received over 20 patients following the crash.
Other hospitals treating patients from the crash include Baptist Hospital, Saline Memorial, CHI St. Vincent, and University of Arkansas Medical Services (UAMS).
The bus driver survived the crash and has been questioned by police.
According to local station FOX 13 Memphis, the bus driver told police that she lost control of the vehicle. Arkansas State Police confirmed that report in their latest press release, indicating that the driver said "she lost control of the vehicle causing it to roll off Interstate 30 west of Benton (Arkansas) about 2:40 AM."
An investigation is ongoing.