Medical helicopters called in after school bus, dump truck collide in western New York

A small school bus carrying 14 people rear-ended a dump truck Wednesday, seriously injuring the bus driver and two passengers, state police said.

The bus was carrying 10 high school students and three staff members from the Le Roy Central School District when it collided with the truck, which was waiting to make a left turn, state police Sgt. Daniel Dedo said.

The impact pushed the truck across the road and it was hit by a car, Dedo said. Neither the truck driver nor the driver of the car was seriously hurt.

"It appears the school bus driver was at fault," Dedo said, while cautioning the accident was still under investigation.

No tickets were immediately issued, said Trooper Rebecca Gibbons, a state police spokeswoman.

Three rescue helicopters carried the three most seriously injured to Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo. Gibbons identified them as: John Peck, the 68-year-old bus driver; aide Sue Lawrence, 31; and student Jeremy Perry, whose age was listed as 17 or 18.

All were in fair condition Wednesday afternoon, hospital spokesman Joe Cirillo said.

The other 11 passengers were taken to United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia, where they were treated for minor injuries, hospital spokeswoman Colleen Flynn said. All were released.

The students, ages 16 to 19, were on a field trip to a veterinary clinic in nearby Corfu, west of Batavia, when the crash occurred along a rural stretch of farm fields and tall grass on a highway between Buffalo and Rochester.

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Associated Press writer Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, N.Y., contributed to this report.