School Bus Plows Into Pole Near Ossining High School, Sending 12 People To Hospital

OSSINING, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A school bus filled with teenagers smashed into a utility pole near Ossining High School in Westchester County on Tuesday morning.

The bus left the school parking lot around 11:30 a.m., turned onto Emwilton Place and plowed into the pole just moments later, as power lines dangled above, CBS2's Dick Brennan reported.

"This could have been a really, really bad accident. In this case, we were able to secure the scene pretty quickly without any major disturbance to this area," Ossining Police Chief Kevin Sylvester said.

There were 21 students on the shuttle the school provides for students taking a Bosces class in Yorktown.

"That was a very, very wide turn that school bus took and it's not on the road,  so I can't figure out what was going on at the time, but I would like to know," Ossining Town Supervisor Dana Levenberg said.

"While we're not sure what happened, it doesn't look like there was a whole lot of time for a lot of different variables. We're not aware of any other vehicles involved. So it is an ongoing scene and we're still looking into that," Sylvester said.

The bus was from Royal coach lines. The school district said it doesn't have any issues with the company.

"We have a great relationship with our bus company. They go through all the safety measures and all the precautionary things that need to be done for students. So there is nothing for us to be concerned about relative to the bus company," Ossining School Superintendent Raymond Sanchez said.

Authorities said there was a brief power outage in the area as Con Ed worked to secure the utility pole and power lines.

Investigators are trying to figure out what caused the bus to careen off the road and into the pole.

"I have the same questions that anybody would have -- Why did this happen? And what can we do to make sure it doesn't happen again?" Levenberg said.

Twelve people were hospitalized with minor injuries such as bumps and bruises.

There was no comment from the bus company.