7 children injured as bus for Jewish school crashes into house in New York suburb

NEW YORK — Seven children were injured Thursday when a school bus veered off the road in suburban New York, hit two parked cars and crashed into a house, police said.

The crash happened just before 9 a.m. in the village of New Hempstead in Rockland County, the Ramapo police department said in a statement.

A bus carrying 21 children to school veered off the road, scraped against a telephone pole, hit a tree and then hit two unoccupied vehicles, police said. The bus then continued down a grassy hill, striking several trees and ultimately crashing into the house, they said.

The driver was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries, police said.

Seven children were taken to hospital. Five of them were evaluated for minor bumps and bruises, while the other two, both 5-year-old boys, sustained injuries that were more serious but not life-threatening, police said.

The crash is under investigation, police said.

די באס איז אראפגעפאלן פון די ראוד pic.twitter.com/SNJsO6AwfJ

— Hasidic (@hasidic_1) December 1, 2022

The town of Ramapo about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of New York City is home to a large Orthodox Jewish population, and the bus was carrying young boys to one of the area’s private Jewish schools.

Orthodox Jewish families, some of whose children were on the bus, look at the site of a school bus accident in the village of New Hempstead in Rockland County, NY, Dec. 1, 2022. (AP/Seth Wenig)