Ky. school bus involved in crash, 1 student killed

Pendleton County Sheriff Craig Peoples, left, and Deputy Todd Dennie investigate the damaged school bus that collided with a truck near Falmouth, Kentucky, Thursday May 1, 2008. Several students were injured and one student was killed in the accident. (AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)

FALMOUTH, Ky.—A school bus and dump truck crashed Thursday along a road with hairpin turns, killing a 16-year-old student and injuring 12 people in northern Kentucky, police said.

The collision occurred shortly after 7 a.m. on Highway 22 in Pendleton County, a rural farmland area about 40 miles south of Cincinnati.

Ten students and the drivers of both vehicles were taken to St. Elizabeth Medical Center in nearby Grant County where they were treated and released, hospital spokeswoman Christa Moore said.

Daniel Wood of Falmouth died in the crash, Pendleton County Coroner John Peoples said. The sheriff said Wood, who had two siblings on the bus, died instantly.

Sheriff Craig Peoples said the driver, Fransico Yulfo, was hauling stones for West Liberty-based XXL Trucking. He said Yulfo had been working for the company for two weeks and had a valid Kentucky driver's license. No charges have been filed.

A phone number for the trucking company could not immediately be found.

Peoples said Wood's family did not want to give interviews.

Peoples said the wreck happened on a curvy stretch of highway.

"It is a very crooked road," Peoples said. "We have a lot of motorcycle accidents. We have dump trucks turn over at least once a year."

Peoples said the truck was hauling stones from a quarry in the nearby community of Butler and flipped over after the impact with the bus, losing its load on the highway and in a cattle pasture.

The bus had extensive damage to the driver's side -- all the windows from a center door to the back of the bus had been ripped out and the roof was dented.

Peoples said 11 elementary, middle and high school students were on the bus when the crash happened. He said the drivers of both vehicles will undergo drug and alcohol screening, which is standard procedure.