One person killed in rollover of bus chartered by Brandeis University, school says
By Kevin Sullivan
12 January 2010
The driver of an East Boston elementary school bus that caught fire when its bus chartered by Brandeis University for a graduation ceremony in East Boston on Monday evening rolled over, killing one person and injuring four others, including the bus’s 15-year-old driver, were quoted as saying Monday by the School Department, a Brandeis University spokesman and the police were quoted as saying, in addition to the school, the driver was at the time an undergraduate student at American University, and four students were aboard the bus.
The name of the 15-year-old driver has not been released.
A Department of Public Safety spokesperson said only that the driver was an “academic student.”
Authorities initially said the car used for the celebration, which had no lights or sirens, was “uninsured or not properly registered,” according to an official from the Boston Fire Department.
Meanwhile, police have said the bus was driving between East Boston and Dorchester at the time of the accident, which happened on the corner of East Street and Dorchester Road.
The bus was headed to the Brandeis University graduation ceremony at nearby St. James’ Episcopal Church, which is also in East Boston.
“The occupants of the bus were in full restraints and fully alert during the entire time of the accident,” Brandeis University spokesman Robert F. P. Lacey Jr. said of the 15-year-old female driver.
At a brief press conference held at St. James’ later Monday morning, police said the female driver died in the accident. According to the department, the male driver was in “serious but stable condition,” after being treated at Boston Medical Center.
School Police Sgt. William P. Mulligan said, according to the Department of Public Safety, the 15-year-old student passenger had “major injuries,” but was “able to talk to us.”
The four other occupants of the bus were all in “serious condition,” the police said. All had “multiple, significant injuries.”
Preliminary reports indicate that the 15-year-old female driver had been operating the bus for about an
