School bus crash kills car driver in Bedford County

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — A car crashed into the back of a school bus carrying about 30 children to school in central Tennessee on Thursday, killing the car’s driver after a fire broke out. No students were seriously injured.

Two children were treated and released at a hospital following the 7 a.m. accident in the Bedford County town of Deason, about 50 miles southeast of Nashville.

The Shelbyville Times Gazette identified the victim as Danyelle L. Sumrall, an 18-year-old college student from Murfreesboro who was on her way to classes in Shelbyville where she was studying nursing.

A heavy early morning fog had reduced driving visibility but it wasn’t yet known if the weather was a factor in the crash.

The driver was pinned in her car under the rear of the school bus and died before emergency officials could pull her out, the newspaper reported.

Bedford County School Superintendent Ed Gray credited bus driver Kristi Steadman for immediately removing all the children from the bus after the accident.

“Those kids’ safety is due to the driver’s handling of the situation,” Gray said.

“She did a tremendous job with the kids,” said Jill Blatt, who was driving behind the bus and car and watched Steadman’s response. “She got them right off the bus within a matter of seconds.”

The school bus was en route to Cascade Elementary and Cascade High School. The children were taken to the schools in other buses after the accident.