11-year-old boy dies after car strikes group of siblings waiting at Pennsylvania bus stop
An 11-year-old boy is dead after an SUV plowed into a group of children waiting at a bus stop in Summit Township, Pennsylvania, on Monday morning.
Three young siblings, two boys and a girl, were waiting for their school bus outside of their family home when they were struck by a vehicle just before 9 a.m., according to local news outlet the Butler Eagle.
State police in Butler County said the driver of the SUV stopped at a stop sign near the bus stop before turning right and hitting the children, apparently not seeing them along the roadway. Investigators said sun glare may have been a factor in the accident.
The 11-year-old victim was transported to Butler Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead, the Associated Press reports. The boy's brother was airlifted to UPMC Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh with undisclosed injuries. Their sister was treated for a minor ankle injury.
Brian J. White, Jr., the superintendent of Butler School District, released a statement grieving the "tragic loss of one of our Summit Elementary students" shortly after the crash.
"When our school community experiences a tragedy, such as the loss of a young life, it impacts all of us," he wrote. "My thoughts and prayers are with the students and their family and friends at this incredibly difficult time."
White, Jr. said that although students had not yet been informed about the accident in order to give their guardians time to talk to them first, the school had arranged for grief counselors to be available to students and staff members in need of support.
