Bus Driver Killed After Pushing Girl to Safety

A bus driver was killed after she pushed a 10-year-old girl out of the path of a rolling bus during a safety drill gone awry, reports the Akron Beacon Journal. The accident occurred as the kids were practicing how to evacuate the bus from the rear. All of the kids except one had done so and were on the sidewalk when the bus began to roll backward, reports Cleveland.com. (The school is located at the top of a hilly street, and the bus was parked outside it.)

When the last girl jumped off the bus, the driver pulled her to the sidewalk and then attempted to get back in the vehicle to stop it. Instead, she got dragged underneath. “She’s definitely a hero,” says a nearby resident who came out after hearing the bus roll down the street and crash into a tree. Nobody else was injured. Authorities are trying to determine why the bus began to roll when it did, after remaining in place during most of the drill. The 51-year-old driver hasn't been identified. (More Akron stories.)