4 students injured in Virginia school bus accident

This students was shaken up when the school bus she was riding in overturned in Virginia

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia (CNN) -- A school bus carrying about 40 students overturned Friday morning in Virginia Beach, Virginia, seriously injuring four students.

The bus was carrying sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students and was headed to Corporate Landing Middle School when it tipped over on its right side, said a police spokeswoman.

Most of the injuries were fractures, said Jamie Budy, nursing supervisor at Virginia Beach General Hospital, about 10 miles from the accident. He said another 16 students were taken to the hospital, where they were in stable condition.

"I don't have any life-threatening injuries," Budy said.

"It was a real mess," said Ricky Chaplain, a motorist who was among the first on the scene. Chaplain said he and another man started removing children from the bus, whose back door could be seen hanging open. They were later helped by four Marines who came upon the scene, Chaplain said.

The accident occurred about 8:45 a.m. EDT, near the intersection of Harpers Road and Dam Neck, in Virginia Beach. The roads were dry and the weather clear, Budy said.

The driver told authorities she had eased the bus off the road and onto the soft shoulder of Harpers Road to avoid bumping her mirror into that of an oncoming truck on the two-lane highway, but then overcorrected when she attempted to return to the roadway.

"She said the next thing she knew, she had tipped over," said Kathy Phipps, assistant superintendent of media and communications for Virginia Beach schools.

The bus had no seat belts, she said.

Classes for the more than 1,000 other students who attend the school were to be held as scheduled.

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Corporate Landing Middle School
Virginia Beach City Public Schools

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