Rio Grande City students injured in bus collision

EAST OF RIO GRANDE CITY — Four high school students were injured Wednesday after an 18-wheeler hit the school bus in which they were riding.

The students were on their way to Rio Grande City High School when the collision occurred just before 8 a.m. near the intersection of Expressway 83 and Farm-to-Market Road 1430, in the small community of La Puerta, state troopers said.

Moments before the wreck, the bus driver stopped at railroad tracks crossing the intersection.

But the driver of an 18-wheeler following behind couldn’t stop in time, investigators said.

His trailer, owned by the company Trucks and You, clipped the bus before hitting a guardrail and traveling onto an embankment, local Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Trooper Johnny Hernandez said.

State law requires all school bus drivers to come to a complete stop and look for oncoming trains before crossing railroad tracks.

Rio Grande City schools spokeswoman Cynthia Ybarra described the four students’ injuries as minor and said all were expected to be released from Starr County Memorial Hospital later in the day. The bus’ other student passengers were also taken to the hospital for precautionary checkups.

Investigators had not decided whether to charge the 18-wheeler’s driver with a crime or to cite him for a traffic violation, Hernandez said. The investigation into the crash will take at least a couple of days.