6 children, 2 adults hurt when bus crashes in Fort Lauderdale

Victims heading home from after-school program

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Six children and two adults were hurt Wednesday when a bus for an after-school program collided with a pickup truck in Fort Lauderdale, authorities said.

Battalion Chief Stephen Gollan, a spokesman for the Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department, said the crash happened about 6 p.m. at Northwest 19th Street and Northwest 15th Avenue.

Paramedics took six people to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale. Two others were taken to Plantation General Hospital.

Gollan said an adult and a child were seriously hurt, while the other injuries were minor.

Jonasia Hamilton, 10, was hurt in the bus crash.

One of the victims, 10-year-old Jonasia Hamilton, told Local 10 News reporter Janine Stanwood that she hurt her hand and hip in the crash and needed crutches. Her brother was also hurt in the crash.

"People was screaming and crying," Jonasia said.

The bus was taking the children, who attend Bennett Elementary School, home when it crashed, her family said.


About the Authors:

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.