Coach Killed, Students Hurt After East Texas School Bus Crash

TALCO, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) -  A Mount Pleasant High School track coach was killed and 18 students hurt Thursday night in a crash involving a school bus, an 18-wheeler and a car.

The crash happened around 10:45 p.m. near the town of Talco, about 25 miles north of Mount Pleasant.

The accident also killed the driver of the 18-wheeler and left another track coach with critical injuries.

School district officials said the big rig veered into oncoming traffic straight towards a school bus carrying the Mount Pleasant High boys track team.  The coach driving the bus veered toward a ditch to avoid a head-on collision, but the big rig was slammed into the side of the bus, causing it to roll over.

A car behind the bus hit the semi head on, killing a female assistant track coach for the Mount Pleasant girls track team.

Mount Pleasant Independent School District Superintendent Judd Marshall said another coach on the school bus carrying the boys team was taken via air ambulance to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler, where he was in critical condition early Friday morning.

A boys track team member was also airlifted to the hospital.  His condition isn't known.

In all, some 19 students on the bus were taken to three different hospitals. The extent of their injuries is not known. There were more than 30 students on the bus when the crash happened, Marshall said.

The Mount Pleasant High girls track team was riding in a second bus and traveling several miles behind the first. That bus was not involved in the crash and no one on the girls team were injured.

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is investigating the crash.