2 die several injured school bus train collision Larimore

UPDATE….

FARGO, N.D. (AP) – Police say driver error is likely the cause of a crash involving a school bus and an empty freight train in North Dakota that killed two people and injured 12 more.

Those injured include five males, ranging in age from six to 16. Seven females were injured, ranging in age from five to 14. The train engineer was a 55-year-old male from Lake Park, Minnesota. The train conductor was a 32-year-old female from West Fargo. The names of all parties involved will be released  Tuesday.

Highway Patrol Lt. Troy Hischer says evidence at the scene indicates the 62-year-old bus driver was braking when the crash happened Monday afternoon near Larimore, but that he didn’t stop in time. The driver and a 17-year-old girl were killed.

Hischer says authorities will examine the bus to make sure there were no mechanical problems, but authorities don’t expect to find any. He says authorities will be talking with bus passengers to determine if something happened to distract the driver.

Altru Health System in Grand Forks didn’t have condition updates on the injured students early Tuesday.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) – The head of Larimore Public Schools says school officials have received offers from about 30 schools to provide counselors in the wake of a school bus-train accident that killed two people and injured 12 students.

The collision Monday killed the bus driver, 62-year-old Max Danner, and a 17-year-old student. Seven girls between the ages of 5 and 15 and five boys between 6 and 16 were injured.

Roger Abbe, the superintendent of Larimore schools, says many of the counselors who volunteered were on hand for classes Tuesday, as well as clergy members. He says substitute teachers were brought in to support regular faculty.

Abbe says the offers for help show that area schools may be rivals on the basketball court or football field, but come together in tough times.

LARIMORE, N.D. (AP) – The scene of a fatal collision involving a school bus and train near Larimore was the same rail crossing where a man was killed six years ago.

Sixty-three-year-old Darvin Friederich (FRED’-rik) was killed at the crossing in October 2009 when his SUV was struck by a freight train. His wife, Gayle, says  crossing arms are needed to make the crossing safer.

The intersection is marked with a crossbuck, which is a white “X” with the words “railroad” on one half and “crossing” on the other. The post with the crossbuck also has a stop sign, which Gayle Friederich says was put up two weeks after her husband was killed.

Monday’s crash killed the bus driver, 62-year-old Max Danner, and a 17-year-old student. Twelve other students were injured.

report from the NDHP…

BISMARCK, N.D. – On January 5, 2015 at approximately 3:46 pm, a Larimore public school bus was traveling northbound on a gravel road approximately one half mile east of Larimore. The school bus was struck on the passenger side near the doors by a westbound BNSF train. The 62 year old bus driver and a 17 year old student were ejected from the school bus and sustained fatal injuries. There were also multiple injuries sustained by passengers.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol is the primary investigating agency, assisted by the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Department. The crash is still under investigation. Additional information to include names will be released as the investigation continues.

The weather conditions at the time of the crash were clear.

(Photo-Google Street View Sept 2012 – looking south)

Reported earlier….

LARIMORE, N.D. (AP) – Authorities say that two people have died and at least 11 are injured in a train-school bus collision in North Dakota.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol says the accident happened at 3:39 p.m. Monday on a gravel road about 5 miles east of Larimore in the northeastern part of the state. Grand Forks County Sheriff Bob Rost tells KFGO radio that the bus is from the Larimore School District.

Sheriff Bob Rost tells Valley News Live that a student and bus driver are dead.

Highway Patrol Lt. Troy Hischer says the bus was heading north on a county road when it was struck by a westbound freight train. He says authorities do not have an exact total of the number of people injured, but believe it to be 11 or 12.

Hischer says the weather was clear at the time of the crash.