Delaware roads: Five hurt in DART bus crash, police say

By PETER BOTHUM:

The News Journal November 6, 2010

Five people were injured in a DART bus accident Friday afternoon on Foulk Road in Brandywine Hundred, said Cpl. Bruce Harris of the Delaware State Police.

Police said Walter Hayes, 75, of Claymont was headed south on Foulk Road when he crashed into the bus around 2:15 p.m. in the 1400 block, in front of Brandywine High School.

There were nine people on the bus — including driver Charles Thomas, 30, of New Castle — and none of them suffered serious injuries, Harris said.

Assistant Chief Richard D. Krett of New Castle County paramedics said Hayes suffered head and chest injuries. All of the injured were taken to Wilmington, Christiana and Alfred I. duPont hospitals.

But police and Krett had little information as to what exactly happened in the accident. Helena Wallace of Wilmington provided some insight. Her 18-year-old daughter Iliya, a student at Brandywine High School, told her that she was buying a ticket when Hayes’ car slammed into the back of the bus.

She was riding the bus from school to her father’s house in New Castle, Helena Wallace said. Iliya, who suffered a mild concussion and an injured finger and was treated at A.I. duPont, told her mom that some of the other injuries were “pretty bad,” and that one person was trapped between seats.

Although three other passengers were 18, according to police, Iliya didn’t recognize any as students at Brandywine. After the accident, the passengers who told paramedics they were injured were taken away by ambulance, while the others were put on another DART bus and taken to their destination, Krett said.

Iliya Wallace was one of those who rode on the replacement bus. Helena Wallace said her daughter should have been put on an ambulance instead. “Nothing was broke, but at the same time, they should have taken her from the scene to the emergency room,” she said. Krett said six people were transported, and that all standard procedures were followed. “Anybody who claimed they were injured were transported to the hospital,” he said.