Students injured when semi plows into back of school bus

SILVER LAKE, Wis. _ A semitrailer truck collided with a school bus carrying middle schoolers on a highway in southeastern Wisconsin Friday, seriously injuring several children on the bus.

Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said there were about a dozen children on the bus and three or four had injuries he described as serious but not life-threatening. The others had minor injuries, mostly "bumps and bruises," he said.

"They all appeared to be shaken up," he added.

The bus from the Wheatland Center School District was dropping off the children after school at about 3:40 p.m. when the truck came over a hill on state Highway 50 and hit it.

"The semi came over the hill and struck the bus right in the middle of the rear end," Beth said.

School officials, local authorities and parents went to the scene as they heard of the crash.

"A lot of parents are here. They are very concerned," the sheriff said.

Medical helicopters flew the injured to area hospitals.

Vincent Mosca, president of the Wheatland Center School District's school board, said the students on the bus were in middle school.

The sheriff said deputies accompanied the truck driver to the hospital as they investigate the accident.