One college student is dead and more than two dozen are injured after their shuttle bus crashed on Saturday night in Waltham, Mass., according to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office.
A driver and 27 students from Brandeis University were in the shuttle bus heading from a hockey game at Northeastern University when the vehicle crashed on South Street around 10:32 p.m., per thepress releasefrom the office.
Undergraduate student Vanessa Mark was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other 26 students and driver were transported to local hospitals for various injuries.
Brandeis University President Ron Liebowitz confirmed her death in aletter publishedon the school’s website. He said Mark, who lived in Waltham, had been “currently on leave” and was a “cherished member” of the Brandeis University community.
Brandeis University bus crash.CBS Boston/Youtube
Photos andvideos of the sceneappear to show the bus was impacted in the front, with wooden debris scattered all around it. Officials toldNBC10 Bostonthat their preliminary investigation suggests the bus hit a tree.
A resident living in the area, Meghan Jacobs, toldNBC10 Bostonwent outside to check what happened after hearing loud sounds.
“I was inside and I heard a big crash and bang,” Jacobs told the news station. “And at first I wasn’t alarmed because there’s big trucks that go over a lot but then I heard glass breaking and so I came out and I saw all the trucks… people on the side of the road that were obviously very hurt.”
“Adding to the difficulty of absorbing such painful news is the fact that we all have many unanswered questions at this time,” Liebowitz said in a statement. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our students, and we are committed to learning all that we can about how this happened.”
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CBS Boston/Youtube
In light of the incident, Liebowitz said classes at Brandeis University scheduled for Monday and Tuesday will be canceled so that students will be able to spend time with their loved ones.
“We are all experiencing the shock of such a terrible accident, and everyone’s recovery will take time,” Liebowitz said.
source: people.com
