Driver charged after school bus with 40 students rolls over near Woodstock: OPP

Ontario Provincial Police West Region have charged a bus driver after five children were taken to hospital following a school bus roll over in rural southern Ontario.

It happened Tuesday morning shortly after 8 a.m., near Dodge Line and Cuthbert Road in Oxford County, just south of Woodstock.

Sgt. Ed Sanchuk with OPP said one student was pinned under the bus in the single-vehicle crash.

“Approximately 40 children were on that bus,” said Sanchuk. “One child was pinned beneath the bus and has since been airlifted to a local area hospital to be treated for injuries. Several other students on the bus were also transported by ambulance to local hospitals to be treated.”

Sanchuk initially did not have the extent of the students’ injuries sustained in the crash.

In an update at around 11 a.m., Tuesday morning, Oxford County Paramedic Services confirmed six patients were transported to area hospitals with minor injuries. One patient was airlifted to London with non-life-threatening injuries.

Sanchuk is also thanking a good Samaritan that came to the aid of the students on the bus.

“I can’t thank you enough for everything you did this morning to evacuate those children on the bus,” said Sanchuk.

All of the parents who had children on the bus have been notified of the crash.

“If you are thinking that your child was on that bus and you haven’t been notified, it’s not your child.”

OPP said the 34-year-old bus driver sustained minor injuries and has been charged with careless driving causing bodily harm, contrary to the Highway Traffic Act.

He’s scheduled to appear in court on April 18, 2024.