Truck, School Bus Collide in Arkansas, Injuring 9

Nine people were injured, including a child who was airlifted to a hospital, when a school bus and a dump truck collided Tuesday afternoon on a state highway in northeast Arkansas, authorities said.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said the vehicles collided just south of Hoxie, about 120 miles (190 kilometers) northeast of Little Rock.

The dump truck was southbound on U.S. 73 south of Hoxie when it struck the rear of a bus that was starting to turn onto a side road. The bus veered off the road and overturned, according to a state police statement.

Seven students and the drivers of both vehicles were injured when the dump truck rear-ended the bus, the state police said. The agency said none of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening.

“All students were alert, able to communicate,” said Hoxie School District Superintendent Kelly Gillham.

Offcials said one student was airlifted to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, 78 miles (125 kilometers) to the southeast. Others were sent to hospitals in Jonesboro, Arkansas, 18 miles (29 kilometers) to the southeast. She said the students on the bus were elementary through high school age.