Kids injured in Beach Park school bus crash released from hospital

Chicago Tribune (IL)

Jan. 21--Nine children injured when their school bus and two semitrucks crashed in Beach Park Wednesday afternoon have all been released from local hospitals, school officials said Thursday.

"There were no serious injuries, so we were really fortunate," said Nancy Wagner, superintendent of Beach Park School District 3.

Most of the kids were back in school Thursday, though some stayed home with headaches and minor "bumps and bruises," she said.

The bus was taking 56 students home from Kenneth Murphy Elementary School when it was struck from behind while stopped in traffic on Green Bay Road at Major Avenue, forcing it to collide with another semitruck in front of it, said Detective Christopher Covelli, a Lake County sheriff's office spokesman.

The school's principal, Matt Mayer, said he rode the bus with students this morning "just to try to make it normal."

But Mayer said the children and their parents were even happier to see their school bus driver, a fixture on the route for about 15 years, for at least one more ride.

Wagner said the driver, "well-loved" by children who know him as Mr. Hand, decided to retire after the crash. But he came back to ride with the children Thursday morning and introduce them to their new driver, Wagner said.

"We're saying goodbye which is sad for us, and he will be missed," she said.

The driver of the truck that crashed into the bus, Milos Ostojic, 55, of the 900 block of Clark Drive in Gurnee, has been charged with failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident, driving without proof of insurance and not having a driver's license on him, Covelli said.

Covelli said he wasn't sure whether Ostojic was driving the semitruck for work.

Illinois Secretary of State records list Ostojic as the president of Golija Express, Inc. According to Lake County court records, Ostojic was cited for speeding in 2012 and 2009, tickets that resulted in supervision, traffic school and fines.

His next court date is scheduled for Feb. 8

lzumbach@tribpub.com

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