A school bus carrying approximately 50 children collided with two pickup trucks Wednesday afternoon along the island’s main thoroughfare.
The crash happened just before 1:40 p.m. on Orange Avenue between 9th and 10th streets – an area lined with eateries and businesses, including a Walgreens.
California Highway Patrol officials said one child suffered a minor injury in the crash; the student was released to his or her mother. No other injuries were reported.
Coronado Police Department spokesperson Lea Corbin said the yellow school bus rear-ended two vehicles but it was not immediately clear who was at-fault in the fender-bender. The bus hit a white pickup truck first, and the impact forced that truck to rear-end a blue pickup truck in front of it.
Witness Andrew Sommars told NBC 7 the two pickup trucks were stopped on Orange Avenue when the school bus, in his words, “just slammed them all together.”
He said he didn't hear screeching or anything leading up to the crash, only the loud "crunch" once the collision happened.
Sommars saw dozens of kids being led off the bus, many of whom he said looked shaken up.
His daughter, Alea, also saw it all unfold.
"A lot of the kids on the bus were crying and I felt really bad for them," she said. "It was tragic. I was super scared for them."
Fortunately, Sommars said everyone involved in the accident seemed unharmed.
Sommars, whose children attend school in Coronado, said he received multiple messages from the school district informing him of the accident. His kids don't ride the bus to school, but he felt for the parents who had students on that bus.
"The (school district) was on top of it but for the parents who couldn't get a hold of their kids it was probably a little chaotic for them," he added. "God bless everything was good."
"It was super good that none of the kids got seriously injured," Alea added.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. No further details were immediately released.
