Truck hits power pole, knocking it onto Cape Coral school bus

Published: Updated:
school bus
School bus covered with telephone pole cables. Credit: WINK viewer

A truck crashed into a power pole, which snapped and fell onto a school bus transporting students in Cape Coral.

The Lee County School District confirmed the bus was traveling to Mariner Middle School, Tuesday morning and contained 25 children.

WINK News spoke to a child witness who said that the bus driver had been injured due to the front door glass shattering. The child also mentioned that her head hurts after hitting it on the seat in front of her.

WINK News spoke to Mercedes Phillips, the public information officer for the Cape Coral Police Department about what happened.

“The power lines and the pole they were attached, so they had to make sure everything was turned off, nothing was live,” said Phillips. “Everything was OK, past that, nothing was live, so the students had a good evacuation route.”

The location of the crash reportedly occurred outside 3126 Jacaranda Parkway.

The bus driver told Cape Coral Police a driver in a white truck in front of them pulled down the power line and broke the pole, causing it to hit the bus.

According to a Lee County Electric Cooperative crewmember, the power lines weigh around 500 pounds and are full of oil.

Nobody suffered any major injuries, and Lee County emergency responders evaluated all the kids before getting them off the bus. Almost all of the children hopped on another bus and went right back to school.

“They were able to turn off the power to those wires. Then they removed the pole from the top of the bus. And they found a good safety evacuation route for the students to get off the bus,” said Phillips.

All customers in northern Cape Coral using Comcast have lost internet access, said an on-site Comcast worker.

There’s no timetable for when the lines will be back up and running. As a safety hazard, always stay away from any downed power line.

There were 25 students, not including the driver, onboard the bus when the power line fell.

A mom who was Facetiming with her daughter on the bus during the incident wanted to thank the bus driver “for keeping my baby safe. The bus driver was awesome. She immediately stopped the bus. She was able to get all the kids contained. Even though she had glass and stuff all over her. I appreciate her for that.”

School bus covered with telephone pole cables. Credit: WINK viewer

The Cape Coral Police Department advises motorists to find an alternative route as the road remains closed, as of 10:30 a.m.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Fallen telephone pole on top of school bus. Credit: WINK viewer

The Lee County Electric Company has restored power to most of the customers within the area of the crash.

Stay tuned to WINKNews.com, WINK News App, streaming, and on air for any new developments on this story.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.