45 children taken to hospital after school bus crash

DETROIT (AP) - A school bus with 45 children on board skidded yesterday morning on black ice and rolled over onto a minivan after a car in front of the bus veered out of control, Detroit police spokesman Glen Wood said.

All of the children were taken to St. John Hospital as a precaution, and none were seriously injured, hospital spokesman Greg Jakub said.

The two occupants of the minivan, John Hunter of Detroit, and his wife, Charlotte Hunter, were listed in critical condition, Jakub said. The bus driver was in temporary serious condition, he said.

Wood said the bus was traveling on a city street at 8:30 a.m.

A witness told Detroit television station WXYZ that volunteers smashed a window on the bus to rescue the children and the bus driver.

In another school bus crash yesterday, three people in Monroe County's Ida Township were injured about 7 a.m.

The 17-seat bus was headed south on a township street when a car in front of it stopped.

As the bus tried to slow down, the bus hit black ice, clipped the vehicle and went into the northbound lane, where it struck a pickup truck.

Two of the injured were taken to Toledo Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, for injuries.

A hospital spokeswoman said yesterday that the two were treated and released.

A third victim was taken to another Toledo children's hospital where she was listed in fair condition late yesterday afternoon.

But Sheriff's Department officials told The Monroe Evening News that her injuries were not believed to be serious.