3 school buses carrying kids end up in snowy ditches, fourth bus in collision

A school bus ended up stuck in the ditch Wednesday afternoon, the third suchvictim of snowy conditions that sidelined students on their way to and from school in the wake of an early morning snowfall.

Kegun Morkin was riding home from Assumption College Catholic High School when he said his bus driver moved over on Schoolhouse road to allow a snowplow to pass but what appeared to be solid ground turned out to be soft snow.

• To cancel or not to cancel: Who makes the 'snow day' call?

"There was a ditch there and he didn't realize it and we just ended up tipping over," explained the 15-year-old, who added no one was hurt and only a couple of people fell across the aisle as the bus settled in the snow.

No students injured

Gabrielle McMillan from Windsor-Essex Student Transportation Servicesconfirmed the bus was stuck in the ditch, but said what happened did not qualify as an "accident."

The afternoon incident came the same day asa morning busheadingto Essex District High School with 17 students inside slid off of the road and into a ditch on14thConcession Road betweenWalker Side Road and Old Malden Road.

JoshuaChaulksaid he was awakened around 7:30 a.m. by a frantic call from his sisterAbbey, a Grade 11 student.

"She was in a panic saying 'Our bus just rolled over, we're in the ditch.'"

He threw his clothes on and drove out to find her, sliding on the roads and taking 45 minutes to complete a trip that usually only takes 15.

Chaulk said he took his sister to school and later to a clinic after she complained of pain from deep bruising on her leg.

"The roads were pretty terrible. I was surprised theyran the buses," he added.

No one was seriously injured in that incident, according to Scott Scantlebury, public relations officer for the Greater Essex County District School Board.

"It wasn't a serious mishap, the students and driver were okay and another bus arrived to take them to school," saidScantlebury.

In addition, an empty school bus in Kingsvillewasstruck by another vehicle. Neither of the vehicle drivers involved was injured.

The collisionhappenedin the area of Highway 3 and Essex County Road 29 (Division Road) in Kingsville.

Amherstburg bus

CBC Newsalso confirmed a school bus in Amherstburg carrying two elementary school students went off the road and into a ditch Wednesday morning.

Parents of the children were notified, and the kids were brought to school shortly after, saidStephen Fields, communications coordinator for the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board.

"It was purely due to the weather conditions, the snow occurring this morning. The roads were pretty bad," saidCst. Steve Owen of the AmherstburgPolice Service.

The bus was towed out of the deep ditch with "no heavy impact," Owen said.

Amherstburg police said it happened around8:30 a.m. on the 9th Concession

Bad roads

Police and fire officialsin Essex were warning drivers to be cautious on the roads Wednesday morning as about 5 cm of snow hit the region.

The OPPreported approximately 20 collisions happened between5:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.

Windsor police reported eight minor vehicle collisionsbetween6:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.