Nine elementary school students were injured Wednesday afternoon in a school bus crash involving two semi trucks in north suburban Beach Park.
Around 3 p.m., a school bus with 56 students from Kenneth Murphy Elementary School was traveling northbound on Green Bay Road just south of Major Avenue, according to Christopher Covelli of the Lake County sheriff’s office.
The bus was stopped in traffic when a semi rear-ended it, causing it to hit another semi that was stopped in front of the bus, Covelli said.
Officials originally stated there were 52 students on the bus, but later learned there were 56, Covelli said.
Nine students were taken to Vista East and Vista West Hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. School officials transported the remaining students back to school and have been communicating with parents to arrange for them to be picked up.
The two truck drivers refused medical attention, Covelli said.
The driver of the semi truck that crashed in to the school bus, Milos Ostojic, 55, of the 900 block of Clark Drive in Gurnee, was charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, no proof of insurance, and for not having a driver’s license on him. He is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 8, Covelli said.
