1 dies in crash of school bus, car on State Road 67 near Gosport
GOSPORT, Ind. (WISH) — A man driving a car that hit a school bus on Thursday afternoon died in the crash, Indiana State Police said in a news release.
Indiana State Police on Sunday identified the driver of the car as 61-year-old Ronald Denton Jr., of Indianapolis.
Nine juveniles on the Spencer-Owen Community Schools bus were taken to area hospitals with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. The bus driver and the other three passengers on the bus were checked by emergency responders and taken to Gosport Elementary School, the release said.
The crash happened about 4 p.m. Thursday when a southbound car erratically crossed into the lane of the northbound yellow 2015 International bus on State Road 67 approaching Culross Road. That’s about 25 miles southwest of Indianapolis and a half-mile north of Gosport, a town of about 800 people in Owen County.
The bus driver, Taresa L. Tharpe, 56, of Gosport, made “evasive maneuvers” to avoid the car before hitting the school bus head-on, the release said.
The crash closed State Road 67 until about 8 p.m. Thursday.
This story was updated to correct the day of the crash.