A freeway pileup sent metal scaffolding flying off a truck through the side of a school bus, killing a 7-year-old boy. Thirteen others were injured.
Tou Xiong was sitting behind the driver when the piping tore through the bus Monday and struck him in the neck, said Sheriff's Sgt. David Iusehwitz."The bus driver slammed off and on the brakes . . . and there was this big truck with pipes on it," said 11-year-old Cameron Davis, another of the 17 youngsters being taken home from Calhoun Elementary School.
"Everybody was sliding forward, and people were like on the floor screaming and crying," Cameron said.
Traffic on Interstate 94 was slowing down for an unrelated accident when a car slammed into the rear of the truck carrying the scaffolding. The car became lodged under the rear of the flatbed and caught fire.
The impact also sent the flatbed into the back of another car, which hit the back of a second semitrailer truck, and the scaffolding was sent flying into the bus.
The sheriff's department said no charges had been filed but the accident remained under investigation.
Ten youngsters were taken to the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin for treatment, and all but one were released, spokeswoman Caryl Sewell said Monday. One boy was in fair condition. Also treated and released were the bus driver and a man and woman in the car that caught fire.