BURKE COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – One person was airlifted to the hospital and several others were injured after a school bus got into a serious accident Tuesday in Burke County.

According to Burke County Schools, the crash happened at 7:23 a.m. Tuesday, April 9, on Johnson Bridge Road in the eastern part of Burke County.

NC State Highway Patrol said the school bus driver was traveling west on Johnson Bridge Road when the driver lost control, ran off the right side of the road, struck a ditch, and overturned.

Nine high school and middle school students, one bus driver, and one bus monitor were on board and sustained injuries in the crash, school officials said.

• Bus monitor was airlifted to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte
• Two people were transported to UNC Health Blue Ridge Valdese
• Five people were transported to UNC Health Blue Ridge Morganton
• Two were transported to Frye Regional Medical Center
• One person was released to a parent

Burke County Schools confirmed with Queen City News, “all students and the bus driver involved in this morning’s incident have been, or are in the process of being, discharged from area hospitals. The bus monitor remains at a CMC – Charlotte.”

The nine students all go to various area schools including East Burke High, Draughn High, and Hallyburton Academy, Burke County Schools said.

The driver of the bus has been cited for failure to maintain lane control, troopers said. The bus operates as handicapped transportation and services multiple schools in Burke County.

Statement released from Burke County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Mike Swan:

“We are grateful that except for some bumps and bruises the students involved in this morning’s bus incident are doing well. We will continue to provide support to them as they heal physically and emotionally. We also are grateful that the bus driver’s injuries appear to be minor as well. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the bus monitor and her family. We want to thank all of the first responders, law enforcement and medical staff at the area hospitals who responded quickly and treated all of those involved. I am proud of how our staff, including principals and district leaders, responded to the scene and to the hospitals. We were quickly able to contact the students’ parents and guardians, and we had district personnel with the students and families at the hospitals up to the point of their discharge.”